50 FIRST DATES - REVIEW

Here's a movie which, on paper, sounds like the worst thing you'll ever see: an Adam Sandler rom-com starring Drew Barrymore as a girl with no short term memory, a girl Sandler has to woo every single day.

The Hawaii-set romantic comedy, as expected, is a pretty cheesy affair with more than its share of infuriating moments. For one thing, Rob Schneider cameos as Sandler's slobby pal so expect loads of bad jokes and borderline racist stereotyping, plus awful child actors speaking loudly around him as a bonus. Then there's the plot which is about as believable as whatever happened in The Adventures Of Pluto Nash and the earnest way in which it's handled often clashes with the usual mostly low-brow Happy Madison brand of humour.

Walrus vomit jokes, anyone?

Then there's Drew Barrymore who really does her utmost to hammer in how adorable she is, often to irritating effect. Though one scene sees her hitting Schneider repeatedly with a baseball bat, something I personally support wholeheartedly. There are other unexpectedly fun moments in the film including Sean Astin popping up as a moron addicted to steroids, Dan Aykroyd cameoing as a straight-talking doctor and Sandler picking up his ukulele for a tune just like in the old days. In terms of the romance at hand, the film is admittedly kind of cute at times and the way in which it handles the ending is, at least, not too predictable.

All in all, while 50 First Dates isn't exactly vintage Sandler, it's not a complete stinker either. A few omissions here and there joke-wise could have helped the script's well-meaning key thoughts stand out a little more but, in the end, this one's pretty harmless. Some will no doubt find it too corny to enjoy but I could see most people sitting through it without too many complaints.

Watchable cheddar.