Friday, September 29, 2023

50 First Dates

  And this week's Friday night movie has been... 50 First Dates!

Original image located here. Accessed 29th September 2023

If there has been a theme with my film selection of this year, it is the notion that I have been going through my 'To Watch' list and clearing some of the titles on it. Some of which have been on there for so long that I may have forgotten why I put it on there in the first place.
So why this movie? Beats me.
It's not much of a stretch to say that Adam Sandler is something of a punchline making crummy movies, through his production company Happy Madison, that are notorious for some really lousy humour. I can't say I have actively sought out his work but Still I was at least willing to give this film a chance. After all, if Adam Sandler can form a production company, Happy Madison, so he and his friends can make the movies they want then that is no different than Margot Robbie forming a production company, Lucky Chap, so she and her friends can make the movies they want.

It seems that when you watch a Happy Madison movie, you know exactly what you're getting in for: Dumb jokes that both repulse and age like milk. So given that these jokes are present in this movie, I should hate this movie. Likewise, this movie has become disreputable in recent years for it's depiction of a guy manipulating a woman with short term memory loss into making her fall in love with him. 
Major strikes to be sure but what works in this movie works wonders. Sandler and Barrymore make for an engaging on-screen couple, clearly Sandler is trying something different compared to the rest of his oeuvre, the tragic angle of living with someone with short term memory loss and certain moments that hit hard.
So yeah, when the movie works it works great. And almost makes the uncomfortable stuff excusable.

...........Almost

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