If I Were Lucy, I'd Forget This Movie Tomorrow (50 First Dates)

I feel that whenever I watch an Adam Sandler movie, I know what to expect. There will be the over-the-top jokes that go too far and had potential to be funny but fell flat because the joke took the route of gross out or annoyingly shocking. There will be the obligatory appearance by Rob Schneider. There will be a main character, played by Adam Sandler, who is the ladies man for reasons I can never figure out. There will be several quirky characters who don't have much screen time but who are lovable additions to the story...I could go on. 50 First Dates doesn't stray from this formula. The movie wasn't painful to watch. There were parts of the movie I found cute and rather interesting, however, I couldn't seem to find anything redeeming about the movie in order to give it a second watching.

Do you see the look on Drew Barrymore's face in the photo? I think it was the same look on my face upon second viewing of this film. Why did I buy this? I didn't buy it blind. I bought it because I liked it. However, after watching a walrus vomit on a character - in an exaggerated fashion, Sandler try to figure out the gender of a gender-ambiguous person and Rob Schneider talking with a Pacific Island, Hawaiian-native accent, I definitely was wondering what I originally saw in the movie. Well, enter Drew Barrymore's Lucy - the memories came back. That's not saying I am the biggest Barrymore fan in the world, but I do know that I liked the chemistry between Sandler and Barrymore - just as I did in The Wedding Singer - and it worked here. The two of them have something going - and it's believable. The script is often forgetable, but the two of them are not. That's not to say that I am ripping on Sander. I was there opening weekend for Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore. But I was also a beer drinking, tailgating College Student at the time. I suppose my tastes have matured - and I know Sandlers has too - so I cringe a little bit at that Happy Madison humor, because it just doesn't fit in this. If you want to make another goof-ball comedy, continue making the over-the-top silly, but let's see what a script looks like that focuses on the crazy romance that is forgotten every 24 hours by one of the star-crossed lovers.

So, the audience learns that Lucy was in a car accident with her father and suffered brain damage as a result. Lucy is not able to remember anything after a 24-hour day. Her father and brother continue to re-enact the day the accident happened everyday to prevent causing Lucy any grief. The comedy ensues when Henry makes attempts, on a daily basis, to win over Lucy over waffles at a local restaurant. This continues as Henry gets to know Lucy better and begins to understand what works with her and what does not. I also liked Barrymore as Lucy. She is funny when she has to be funny and she easily obtains empathy when she needs empathy. I enjoyed watching her as Lucy as believe that she made the totally ridiculous concept make as much sense as it could. I didn't care for watching Henry, however...as Adam Sandler played the same character he plays about 90% of the time. I wasn't concerned with his success with Lucy or her family.

So - why is it that we don't connect with Sandler in this movie? It's not his talent as we've seen him in some really great roles - Punch Drunk Love or The Wedding Singer. I think it's that when he does choose to play this type of character - we've seen it a dozen times. However, that said, it's the relationship that works. As I watched the ending, I felt a bit touched by their marriage, her daughter and the support of Lucy's family as they took his research trip around Alaska. I'd say this is well worth renting. I still question why I bought this and realized that it was a sale item - probably $4.99.

You Want To Know How I Know You're Into This Movie? (The 40 Year Old Virgin)

40-Year-Old Virgin has a way of appealing to, what might seem to be, a rather vast audience. The cast includes the broken-hearted and forlorn, Paul Rudd, the scheming Seth Rogan, the guy who talks a big game, Romany Malco...and then there is the seemingly awkward wallflower, played by Steve Carrell. The jokes also seem to range from the rather raunchy to quick and witty. The buddy comedy focused on sex isn't a buddy comedy focused on sex. It is, perhaps, the opposite.

I remember hearing about this movie and being very excited. For years, I'd watched Carrell and Stephen Colbert verbally spar on The Daily Show. To top that, Alicia and I were huge fans of Judd Apatow's Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared - and being that he was co writer and director of this, it seemed like something we'd really be into. The script by Apatow and Carrell was no disappointment. Though there was a healthy dose of crude and sexual jokes, the script is surprisingly full of heart. I think that I can honestly say that I have never have watched a movie rooting for the hero to have sex, but this movie pulls it off...

I could, potentially, watch Paul Rudd in anything...and, lucky for me, he is in everything. This movie was one of the first of many comedies he would star in. I enjoyed watching the cast just interact...what appeared to be improvisation or just random verbal sparring, the cast clicked.


Alicia hit on something very special about this movie and other Apatow projects. Though the dialogue feels loose, the script feels tight. Apatow knows what he wants and directs from the school of Larry David. In any given scene, the script feels as though the actors know what they're supposed to do as they go into any given take - but their improvisational skills turn each scene into gold. So Andy (Steve Carrell) has turned into a hermit that goes from his neat breakfast to his safe job and back to his action figures, models and G.I. Joe dolls. It's obvious that Andy isn't as afraid of having a sexual relationship as he is about getting close to anyone that could hurt him or embarrass him. Yet the desire to be accepted and respected gives him enough courage to join the guys for a night of poker - in which he's pressured into confessing that he's still a virgin - and 40 years old.

Throughout most of the movie, Andy is ashamed about his virgin status. He feels embarrassed when talking with his friends over a poker game. He doesn't want to reveal the truth to his girlfriend, Trish, played by Catherine Keener. The movie is also about Andy coming to terms with his reality and, in turn, being okay with it. The story includes a message, of some sort, about differing from the norm and embracing that. This theme takes the audience through Andy's metamorphosis into being happy with who he is despite what others may say.

I think that's what makes this movie so fun. It's a teen-aged sex comedy with heart - but a group of middle-aged adolescents. This is a movie that I've watched multiple times and would recommend owning. Not only is it fun multiple times, but the jokes just don't get old. A few times they go overboard, but it's never too far. For those that are middle-aged, it takes you back to a time when you struggled with all the things Andy did, and for those of you that are young - well you surely must chuckle because you can relate.

Run Before You See the Red of Their Eyes (28 Weeks Later)

28 Weeks Later should have had quite a bit going for it. Everyone knew that it couldn't end with Jim and Selena surviving and everything being okay. I mean zombie movies just don't have happy endings - unless it's Shawn of the Dead. So here it is - we knew that people had to be hiding out. We knew that there had to be a few intelligent humans that would lock their doors and keep quiet and just hide out. Eventually the zombies would starve and civilization revived - or so they thought. Apparently, the survivors hiding out have never seen a zombie movie before. Enter Don (Robert Carlyle) and a his wife - hiding out with a group of survivors. When faced with his own mortality - and his wife's nurturing nature for a young boy - he turns tail and runs - I'm reminded of the old joke about the two men being chased by a bear in the woods - as one says to the other, "All I have to do is out run you." That's just what Don does - he leaves wife and random boy to raging zombies.

I suppose I wasn't watching this and considering the zombie movie rules. I liked the happy ending of 28 Days Later and, quite frankly, I wasn't concerned with what happened 28 Weeks Later (or 28 minutes later.) I didn't think there was a need to follow up this story with a clearly mediocre sequel. This could have been a completely different movie that was not tied to 28 Days Later and I would've been happier with the result. 28 Weeks Later did not have the visual appeal or retain my interest as its predecessor.

What can I say that Alicia didn't in her previous paragraph? I think the movie is a fine continuation for those of you that wanted to see the fate of mankind. However, 28 Days Later is really a story about Jim and Selena - we don't care what happened to the rest of mankind unless it has something to do with Jim and Selena. 28 Weeks Later are for all you zombie fans that want to see just how widespread this rage thing really was. I've believed - for quite some time that a good horror movie is about what is not shown. Suspense is the key to good horror. This movie is excessive in gore and violence - which is what appeals to those that have a different opinion than mine of what good horror is. That said, I can't help but argue there's something interesting about the second installment of this franchise. I think that in the sub-genre zombie movies - this does what others have done. First there's the character and social study of mankind (28 Days Later). Then there's the study of the arrogance of man - which is this - the belief that man can control the unnatural. From Night of the Living Dead to Dawn of the Dead - we see a significant change in the focus of what we care about as an audience, and the transition from Days to Weeks follows the same formula. I would say this is worth a watch if you're into zombie movies or believe that the 28 Days/Weeks world is one worth looking in on to see what's next. I'd even say that if you're Jonesing for a 28 Months Later that you should probably have it's two predicessors on your movie shelf. I, myself bought the movie blind - but would not recommend doing so to anyone but the most die-hard 28 Minutes/Days/Weeks/Years/Decades fans.