Adam Sandler generally isn’t the first actor you think of when it comes to dramatic performances, and this isn’t really a dramatic role, but he did a pretty decent job. Sure, there are moments. There are references to his other films, whether it’s the inclusion of his buddies or names or what-have-you. But there are also moments where he and Drew Barrymore really do fine job of making things work.

Henry Roth (Sandler) is something of a serial liar. He works at the aquarium, but you wouldn’t know it if you were to happen across him in a bar. He tells women that he works for the CIA – or just about any other secret organization – in order to avoid having to call them. He only dates tourists, so that they will leave at the end of their trip and he doesn’t have to see them again. Ever. But that changes when he meets Lucy (Barrymore) one morning at breakfast.

She is like the perfect woman for him, because she was in a car crash the year before, and she lost her short term memory. So she can’t remember him the next day when they meet again. It’s like the match made in heaven – but in a cruel twist of fate, he wants this woman to remember him. And so he sets about trying to impose himself on her brain. Yet it doesn’t seem to take.

Eventually, Henry realizes that perhaps it’s not working, and he lets her father and brother put her into the hospital, as that might be best for her. Then one day he happens by for a visit, and he sees that she’s been painting – and the paintings are of him. She doesn’t know who he is, but it’s most definitely his face. She does remember him after all.

I know, it’s not a conventional romantic film. Perhaps she is bashing someone over the head with a baseball bat. Maybe he is having the walrus vomit over the gender-challenged aquarium assistant. But it’s the times we live in, and at the end of the day, it just works. What I’m getting at is that it’s enjoyable without being the completely crass humor that is often present in many works (including some of Sandler’s other performances), and that alone is quite an accomplishment.

Rated PG-13 for crude sexual humor and drug references.

Tagged with...
Actor: Adam Sandler, Actor: Albert Chi, Actor: Allen Covert, Actor: Americus Abesamis, Actor: Amy Hill, Actor: Anne Stedman, Actor: Anthony Patricio, Actor: Aukuso Gus Puluti Sr., Actor: Blake Clark, Actor: Brenda Vivian, Actor: Brian L. Keaulana, Actor: Chantell D. Christopher, Actor: Christian Guiterrez, Actor: Dan Aykroyd, Actor: Darin Fujimori, Actor: David Suapaia, Actor: Deniese Bee, Actor: Dom Magwili, Actor: Drew Barrymore, Actor: Esmond Chung, Actor: Glen Chin, Actor: Ishtar Uhvana, Actor: J.D. Donaruma, Actor: Jackie Sandler, Actor: James Lee, Actor: Jessica Bowman, Actor: Joe Nakashima, Actor: John Patrick Shulak, Actor: Jonathan Loughran, Actor: Julianne Morris, Actor: Katheryn Winnick, Actor: Keali'i Olmos, Actor: Kent Avenido, Actor: Kevin James, Actor: Kristin Bauer, Actor: Kylie Moore, Actor: Lin Yan, Actor: Linda Segal, Actor: Lusia Strus, Actor: Lynn Collins, Actor: Marguerite Cazin, Actor: Mark Pinkosh, Actor: Maya Rudolph, Actor: Meilinda Soerjoko, Actor: Melissa Lawner, Actor: Michael K. Osborn, Actor: Michelle Lee, Actor: Missi Pyle, Actor: Nectar Rose, Actor: Nicola Hersh, Actor: Peter Chen, Actor: Peter Dante, Actor: Pomaika'i Brown, Actor: Rob Schneider, Actor: Sean Astin, Actor: Sharon Omi, Actor: Shenika Williams, Actor: Tache Uesugi, Actor: Virginia Reece, Actor: Wayne Federman, Director: Peter Segal, Rated: PG-13, Year: 2004