50 First Dates

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2010)

50 First Dates
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Peter Segal
Produced by	Jack Giarraputo Steve Golin Nancy Juvonen
Written by	George Wing
Starring	Adam Sandler Drew Barrymore Rob Schneider Sean Astin Blake Clark and Dan Aykroyd
Music by	Teddy Castellucci
Cinematography	Jack N. Green
Editing by	Jeff Gourson
Studio	Happy Madison Flower Films
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	February 13, 2004
Running time	99 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$75 million
Gross revenue	$196,482,882

50 First Dates is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Segal. It stars Adam Sandler as a woman-chasing veterinarian and Drew Barrymore as an amnesiac, with a supporting cast featuring Sandler's Saturday Night Live colleague Rob Schneider, Sean Astin, Lusia Strus, and SNL veteran Dan Aykroyd.

Most of the film was shot on location in the Hawaiian Islands. Sandler and Barrymore won an MTV award for their warm on-screen chemistry. This is the second of their two films to date as costars, the first being The Wedding Singer.

The memory impairment suffered by Barrymore's character is similar to Alzheimer's disease and Anterograde amnesia, but is not a real medical condition.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Reception 4 Connections to other films 5 Locations 6 Medical reality 7 Soundtrack 7.1 Songs in the film 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Plot

Henry Roth (Sandler) is a womanizing marine-life veterinarian who cares for animals in an aquatic amusement park in Hawaii. The film begins with a review of Henry's sexual conquests and scenes of him at work with his assistants Ula (Schneider) and Alexa (Strus).

One morning, Henry meets Lucy Whitmore (Barrymore), a local art teacher, in a café. They hit it off and agree to meet the next day, but when Henry returns, Lucy has no memory of him or their previous meeting. Pulling him aside to where Lucy can't hear them, the café owner explains to Henry that, as a result of a car accident a year earlier, Lucy suffers from Goldfield Syndrome, a fictional form of anterograde amnesia in which each day's events disappear from her memory overnight. She innocently believes every day to be the birthday of her father, Marlin (Clark), which happens to be the day of the accident. In order to shield her from the pain of repeatedly learning about the accident, Marlin and Lucy's brother, Doug, re-enact the activities of Marlin's birthday every day.

Realizing that he is falling in love with Lucy, Henry sheds his philandering ways and devises new ways to 'meet' her again every day, hoping that one day she will retain her memories—and feelings—for him. He eventually convinces Marlin that hiding the truth from Lucy is worse than explaining it to her each day, so they begin to leave video tapes for her to watch each morning, explaining her situation and her relationship with Henry. Lucy also writes notes to herself in a diary. Over time, she begins to reciprocate Henry's feelings, even accepting his marriage proposal.

One morning, Lucy hears that Henry has canceled his plans to sail to the Arctic on a research expedition, for which he had spent years preparing, in order to be with her. Not wanting to hold him back, she destroys all evidence of their relationship, insists that he leave her, and commits herself to a specialist unit in a hospital.

Now shut out of Lucy's life, Henry prepares for his trip. Before he sets sail, Marlin gives him a Beach Boys CD containing the music that Lucy used to give Marlin for his fishing trips when she was a girl because it reminded him of his wife. More recently, Lucy would sing this music on days when she was with Henry. Shortly after departing, Henry realizes that the CD may be a hint from Marlin that Lucy does indeed remember him, so he rushes back to the hospital to see her. Upon seeing him again, Lucy explains that she still does not know who he is but she has been dreaming about him and remembers his face, as evidenced by the many paintings and drawings she has produced of him while in the hospital. Taking this to be proof of their love for each other, the couple reunite.

The last scene of the film is set several years later. Although she is unaware of it as she wakes up one morning in the cabin of Henry's yacht, Lucy is married to Henry and sailing in the Arctic with him, his dream finally fulfilled. After tearfully watching scenes of her accident and her wedding to Henry on a video tape, she climbs onto the deck of the boat to be greeted by Henry, their young daughter, and Marlin.

[edit] Cast

• Adam Sandler as Henry Roth, a marine veterinarian with a talent for wooing women and a fear of commitment
• Drew Barrymore as Lucy Whitmore, a young Hawaiian art teacher with a memory disorder
• Rob Schneider as Ula, Henry's bumbling, marijuana-smoking, native Hawaiian assistant. Ula is unhappily married, with a large number of athletically talented children.
• Blake Clark as Marlin Whitmore, Lucy's father, a professional fisherman
• Sean Astin as Doug Whitmore, Lucy's shrimpy, lisping, bodybuilding, steroid-dependent brother
• Lusia Strus as Alexa, Henry's ambiguously gendered assistant
• Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Keats, a physician specializing in brain disorders
• Amy Hill as Sue, a café manager and friend of Lucy and her late mother
• Allen Covert as Ten-Second Tom, a hospital patient with severe memory impairment
• Missi Pyle as Noreen
• Maya Rudolph as Stacy
• Wayne Federman as Wheelchair Patient
• Pomaika'i Brown as Nick
• J.D. Donaruma as Pablo
• Joe Nakashima as Old Hawaiian Man at Hukilau's
• Esmond Chung as Sheriff
• Marguerite Cazin as Henry & Lucy's Daughter

[edit] Reception

Critical response to the film was decidedly mixed. Critics who enjoyed the film (such as The New York Times reviewer A.O. Scott) praised the uplifting story while lamenting the seemingly excessive and incongruous amount of crude humor and drug references. Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars, saying "The movie is sort of an experiment for Sandler. He reveals the warm side of his personality, and leaves behind the hostility, anger and gross-out humor... The movie doesn't have the complexity and depth of Groundhog Day... but as entertainment it's ingratiating and lovable."

Sandler and Barrymore won the award for Best On-Screen Team at the MTV Movie Awards. The two actors, who had previously worked together in the popular film The Wedding Singer, are said to regard 50 First Dates as one of their favorite personal efforts.

[edit] Connections to other films

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (December 2009)

This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (December 2009)

• The opening scene depicts a long line of women who have fallen to Henry's charm during vacations in Hawaii. There is a brief cameo by Kevin James admitting that he too had his heart broken by Henry. Adam Sandler and Kevin James would later star together in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, in which they pretend to be a same-sex couple for insurance purposes.
• During the golfing scene the children swing like Happy Gilmore, a character in one of Adam Sandler's previous films. Sandler makes a side comment that the swing "looks ridiculous".
• Dan Aykroyd's character in the film mentions that the short-term memory loss facility is sponsored by T.B. Callahan Auto of Sandusky, Ohio. The T.B. most likely stands for Tommy Boy. Callahan Auto was the main focus in Tommy Boy, a film that starred Chris Farley and David Spade. This was most likely put in as a tribute to Farley, as Sandler was a good friend of his. Aykroyd played the part of Ray Zalinsky, the self proclaimed "Auto Parts King". Ray attempts a takeover of Callahan Auto.
• Dan Aykroyd's character, Dr. Keats, has the same name of Damon Wayans's character in Adam Sandler's film Bulletproof.
• At one point in the movie Lucy's condition is described as her "slate being wiped clean every morning" - a possible reference to the film Clean Slate with Dana Carvey, an SNL alumnus like Sandler, whose character has the same condition as Lucy.

[edit] Locations

Most of the film was shot on location in Kaneohe, Kaʻaʻawa, Wahiawā, Makapuʻu, and Waimānalo, Oahu, as well as in Kāne'ohe Bay. To save money (because of the high cost of filming outside of the studio zone), some interior scenes (such as inside the Whitmore residence) were shot on sets in Los Angeles carefully decorated to look like they were in Hawaii.

The walrus tank is actually in Vallejo, California's Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, and the golf course is in Los Angeles, California. Real-life sea lion trainer Michael Osborn appears in the film as himself. The boat "Sea Serpent" was a 51' Formosa; a family owns it and lives aboard. The boat's real name is Viking Spirit and it remains on Oahu.

[edit] Medical reality

BMJ magazine states that 50 First Dates "maintains a venerable movie tradition of portraying an amnesic syndrome that bears no relation to any known neurological or psychiatric condition".^[1] According to Cosmopolitan magazine, although people really do lose their memories, memory failure is uncommon, and when it does occur, far more mundane. "In the movies, amnesia is shown in a very sensationalistic way," says Lawson Bernstein, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "But those portrayals don't have much basis in fact." Whereas complete amnesia (the wiping out of a lifetime of stored memories), is almost unheard of, Dr. Bernstein says, the daily memory loss Lucy experiences is pure fiction. The closest thing to this memory loss is Alzheimer's.^[2]

A representative of the Memory Disorders Project at Rutgers University states the film combines two real memory loss syndromes, Psychogenic Amnesia (Traumatic Amnesia) and Organic Amnesia. The case in the movie is similar to Limited Retrograde Amnesia.^{[dubious – discuss]} But in the film, Barrymore is told by her neurologist, played by Dan Aykroyd, she suffers from "Goldfield’s Syndrome". Goldfield's Syndrome does not exist.^[3]

Lucy's condition is similar to Henry Gustav Molaison's condition of amnesia following his brain surgery in 1953, with heavy anterograde amnesia, the main symptom of which is not being able to convert new experiences to long-term memory storage.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Soundtrack

The soundtrack contains cover versions of songs that were originally recorded in the 1980s. This includes mostly reggae or ska covers, due to their emphasized upbeat that gives a tropical or Hawaiian feel. It was a moderate commercial hit, reaching 30th on the Billboard 200 and number one on the Top Soundtracks and Top Reggae Albums in the United States.

1. Wayne Wonder — "Hold Me Now" (Originally recorded by the Thompson Twins) - 4:12
2. 311 — "Lovesong" (Originally written and recorded by The Cure) - 3:28
3. Seal featuring Mikey Dread — "Lips Like Sugar" (Originally recorded by Echo & the Bunnymen) - 5:00
4. Wyclef Jean featuring Eve — "Your Love (L.O.V.E. Reggae Mix)" (Originally recorded by The Outfield) - 4:13
5. Ziggy Marley — "Drive" (Originally recorded by The Cars) - 4:26
6. will.i.am & Fergie — "True" (Originally recorded by Spandau Ballet) - 4:24
7. Elan Atias (backing vocals by Gwen Stefani) — "Slave to Love" (Originally recorded by Bryan Ferry) - 3:55
8. UB40 — "Every Breath You Take"(Originally recorded by The Police) - 3:55
9. Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray — "The Ghost in You" (Originally recorded by the Psychedelic Furs) - 3:01
10. Dryden Mitchell — "Friday I'm in Love" (Originally recorded by The Cure) - 3:21
11. Nicole Kea (Nicole Scherzinger) — "Breakfast in Bed" (Originally recorded by Dusty Springfield/UB40) - 3:36
12. Jason Mraz — "I Melt With You" (Originally recorded by Modern English) - 3:36
13. Adam Sandler — "Forgetful Lucy" - 1:51

[edit] Songs in the film

1. The Maile Serenaders — "My Sweet Sweet"
2. Nicole Kea — "Breakfast in Bed" (Originally recorded by Chrissie Hynde/UB40)
3. The Ventures — "Hawaii Five-O"
4. Harve Presnell — "They Call the Wind Mariah"
5. Bob Marley & The Wailers — "Could You Be Loved"
6. Manfred Mann — "Blinded by the Light"
7. Toots & the Maytals — "Pressure Drop"
8. Wayne Wonder — "Hold Me Now" (Originally recorded by the Thompson Twins)
9. 311 — "Rub A Dub"
10. O-Shen — "Throw Away The Gun"
11. Elan Atias (backing vocals by Gwen Stefani) — "Slave To Love" (Originally recorded by Roxy Music)
12. Leon Redbone & Ringo Starr — "My Little Grass Shack In Kealakekua, Hawaii"
13. The Flaming Lips — "Do You Realize??"
14. Paul McCartney & Linda McCartney — "Another Day"
15. 311 — "Amber"
16. No Doubt — "Underneath It All"
17. Jason Mraz — "I Melt with You" (Originally recorded by Modern English)
18. The English Beat — "Hands Off She's Mine"
19. Seal (featuring Mikey Dread) — "Lips Like Sugar" (Originally recorded by Echo & the Bunnymen)
20. Dryden Mitchell — "Friday I'm in Love" (Originally recorded by The Cure)
21. The Beach Boys — "Wouldn't It Be Nice"
22. Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider — "Ula's Luau Song"
23. Wyclef Jean (featuring Eve) — "Your Love (L.O.V.E. Reggae Mix)" (Originally recorded by The Outfield)
24. Wyclef Jean — "Baby"
25. Adam Sandler — "Forgetful Lucy"
26. Ziggy Marley — "Drive" (Originally recorded by The Cars)
27. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole — "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"/ "What a Wonderful World" medley (Originally recorded by Judy Garland/ Louis Armstrong)
28. UB40 — "Every Breath You Take" (Originally recorded by Sting and The Police)
29. 311 — "Love Song" (Originally recorded by The Cure)
30. Mark McGrath (of Sugar Ray) — "The Ghost in You" (Originally recorded by the Psychedelic Furs)
31. Bob Marley & the Wailers — "Is This Love"
32. Will.I.Am & Fergie Ferg — "True" (Originally recorded by Spandau Ballet)
33. The Makaha Sons of Ni'Ihau — "Aloha Ka Manini"
34. Snoop Dogg — "From tha Chuuuch to da Palace"
35. The Cure — "Boys Don't Cry"

[edit] See also

• Fuddy Meers
• Memento
• Novo

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: 50 First Dates

• Official website
• 50 First Dates at the Internet Movie Database
• 50 First Dates at Allmovie
• 50 First Dates at Rotten Tomatoes

v • d • e Films directed by Peter Segal 1990s Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994) • Tommy Boy (1995) • My Fellow Americans (1996) 2000s Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000) • Anger Management (2003) • 50 First Dates (2004) • The Longest Yard (2005) • Get Smart (2008)