
The movie's premise of a girl who has her memory reset every morning seems similar to Groundhog Day or the more recent Edge of Tomorrow is familiar, and led me to believe the movie would be very by-the-books. Thankfully, 50 First Dates DOES give most of its focus to its lead characters, who provide an unorthodox love story. So, in that regard, its the "com" part of its genre that bogs the film down. And the inclusion of Sandler's bi-sexual Russian co-worker often makes scenes uncomfortable and hard to watch, reminding audiences why Sandler's movies have gone downhill in the past decade. Most of the time, it's awkward and gross.

Many of the supporting characters, particularly Barrymore's character's brother and Sandler's character's cousin are put on-screen to provide comic relief, which only sometimes works. Unfortunately, their chemistry and screen presence is about the only thing that keeps the movie going. It's true that neither of the two are particularly good actors (Sandler especially), but the way the two interact is irresistible and adorable at times. The chemistry between Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore is what carries the story. Most of the film's benefits come from the "rom" part of its genre. But it also wasn't as inherently awful as I assumed it would be.

True, it definitely wasn't a great movie. But after sitting through 50 First Dates with her, I don't think it'll be as hard as I thought to watch more in the future. Needless to say, I wasn't particularly thrilled when my girlfriend told me she loved rom-coms. I've always hated romantic movies, and I've never really enjoyed comedies (excluding Airplane, which remains one of the funniest movies I've ever seen).
