50 FIRST DATES [2004] Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore ; R 12A

Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore re-unite ('The Wedding Singer') for this romantic comedy with a twist. Barrymore plays Lucy, a young and attractive sweet heart who suffers from a rare brain disorder that wipes her memory clean every night. Henry, played by Sandler, ends up falling for her and has to find increasingly more insightful ways of winning the ditsy blonde over, day after day after day. Since the extremely successful 'The Wedding Singer', Sandler has never quite managed to produce anything of equal quality, until now that is. '50 First Dates' is an extremely well made  comedy. It has all the quirks Sandler fans will expect (e.g. Rob Schneider) but with more groomed performances across the board. The film progresses efficiently and in a quite refreshingly un-predictable way. Barrymore is on top form efficiently complimenting her leading man's performance with her usual 'not quite all there' charisma. There are also some wonderfully filmed cast interactions with a whole host of various aquatic species, little sequences that help bring the film to a greater level of appreciability. The film does however show signs of losing its way as it starts to draw to a close, with a final act that really struggles to live up to the rest of the films snappy wit. All in all though '50 First Dates' is a well paced, simple and down to earth comedy that will more than satisfy die hard Sandler fans as well as those who have yet to be exposed to the former SNL actor's screen presence. If you're in the mood for a good laugh, then look no further.

4/5