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2006 - 50 Events in 50 States pulmonaryfibrosis.org | in the Business First Fast Track 50 wearegentledentistry.com |
50 First Dates is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Peter Segal, and starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.
[edit] PlotHenry Roth (Adam Sandler), a womanizing marine-life veterinarian living in Hawaii, meets Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore), an art teacher, in a café one morning. They hit it off and agree to meet in the café the next morning. The following day, however, Lucy claims not to know Henry. The café owner pulls Henry aside and explains that Lucy suffers from anterograde amnesia (called 'Goldfield Syndrome' in the movie) as a result of a car accident she was in a year earlier. Her condition has left her with no memory of anything between the day of the accident and the present, because she is incapable of converting short-term memories into long-term memories. At the beginning of each day, she loses all memory of the past day. She innocently believes every day to be October 13, 2002. Her father, Marlin (Blake Clarke), and brother, Doug (Sean Astin), attempt to re-enact the activities of October 13, her father's birthday, every day, to prevent her from suffering from learning about the accident. Realizing that he is beginning to fall in love with Lucy, Henry sheds his philandering ways and begins devising new ways to ‘meet’ her again every day, hoping that one day she will retain her memories – and feelings – for him. Henry and Lucy’s family eventually realize that they can’t lie to her about what has happened forever, and so instead begin to leave video tapes for her to watch each morning, explaining her situation and relationship with Henry. Over time, Lucy begins to reciprocate Henry’s feelings, even going so far as to accept his marriage proposal. One morning, however, she overhears Henry telling Marlin that he has canceled his plans to sail to the Arctic on a research expedition – something he had been planning and saving money for 10 years – in order to be with Lucy. Not wanting to be the person to hold him back, she ends the relationship and commits herself to a specialist unit in hospital, allowing herself to forget all about Henry. A heartbroken Henry, meanwhile, finally saves the money needed to begin his trip, and, after a farewell from Marlin and Doug, sets sail. Shortly after departing he realizes that Marlin had hinted that Lucy had indeed remembered Henry, and he rushes back to the hospital to see her. Upon seeing him again, Lucy explains that she still doesn’t know who Henry is, but that she has somehow remembered his face and she had dreams with him in them, as evidenced by the many paintings and pictures she has produced of him whilst in hospital. Knowing that this is proof of the love she has for him, and he for her, the couple reunite. Several years later Lucy wakes up in a strange bed with a video tape on the night stand next to her, reading "Good Morning, Lucy". She watches it, and cries as she relives her accident while the tape explains everything that has happened, including scenes from Henry and Lucy's wedding. She then looks out the window and is shocked to find out that she's on a boat in the Arctic. She comes out onto the deck of the boat to be greeted by Henry as well as her father and her young daughter sailing on Henry's ship, his dream finally fulfilled. [edit] Cast
[edit] ReceptionCritical response to the movie was decidedly mixed. Those major critics who enjoyed the film (such as 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] Overtaken by eventsOne notable coincidence of Henry's first video is when the screen says "Red Sox Win World Series" and then follows with "Just Kidding." This is a reference to the 2003 American League Championship Series, as the film was released in February 2004. Later in that year, however, the Boston Red Sox would indeed win the World Series for the first time since 1918. Coincidentally, Barrymore's next film would be Fever Pitch, which co-stars Jimmy Fallon as an obsessed Boston Red Sox fan and which takes place during the 2004 championship baseball season. [edit] Connections to other filmsDuring the golfing scene the children swing like Happy Gilmore, a character in one of Adam Sandler's previous movies. 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 movie 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] LocationsMost of the film was shot on location in Kaneohe, Kaaawa, Wahiawa, Makapu'u, and Waimanalo, O'ahu, as well as in Kaneohe Bay. 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 realityBMJ 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 ]. But in the movie, Barrymore is told by her neurologist, played by Dan Aykroyd, she suffers from “Goldfield’s Syndrome”. Goldfield’s Syndrome does not exist.[3] [edit] SoundtrackThe 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 #30 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Top Soundtracks and Top Reggae Albums in the United States.
[edit] Songs in the film
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
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