It is hard to imagine an Adam Sandler movie played straight – Happy Gilmore as a tragedy, anyone? – but that may have been the only approach that could have saved 50 First Dates. There’s a fine conceit for a romantic drama here – Sandler plays a veterinarian in love with a woman (Drew Barrymore) whose short-term memory loss means she repeatedly forgets him the next morning – but Sandler and company throw in walrus vomit and endless Spam jokes and call it a comedy instead.
