[Movie Reviews] Adam Sandler x2

There is something about Adam Sandler movies.

On the surface, they are usually comedies. In Shakespearean parlance,
that is true. A play (in this case, a film) is usually a comedy (happy
ending) or a tragedy (people die, or something not desireable happens at
the end).

But like many good plays or movies and novels, comedies usually have a
theme - and a "moral lesson" to wit.

The one Adam Sandler movie that I recall - or actually the one line that
I've heard from one Adam Sandler movie that I always recall - is from
Big Daddy. It goes something like, "When you're in love, you change
schedules."

So true. I mean behind all the funny lines and sometimes slapstick
comedy, there's that lesson in Big Daddy. And that's just one. But if
you can recall from a very old prustrations post, I said something to
that effect: You might love basketball and you might be playing
basketball every Tuesday night, but when you have a family already or
for example when a parent is very ill, you might be playing less
basketball and all, and it's not that you love basketball less, but it's
just that other priorities come up. You might love your work, but when
Love comes, your work is still as important but it may take a back seat
and settle for a silver medal.

Now there's this other Adam Sandler movie which I expected to be a
comedy - a romantic comedy, in fact. 50 First Dates. Oh, from the
title alone, it feels like the perfect, feel-good date movie. I was
wrong.

Again, behind all the funny lines, it is actually a drama. It is a
must-see (a 4) on my scale, whereas Big Daddy might be for movie-lovers
only (a 3 on my scale). The theme of the movie? True love. By the dad
and by the brother. And by the former-playboy lover. Could you imagine
yourself loving someone like Lucy? Characters like Lucy are very rare
so it is difficult to answer that question. Instead, look at your
partner or your friend or your mother or father or your boss or whoever.
What "flaws" does he/she have? And can you live with that day-to-day?
I mean sure, if it is something that needs to be changed, you do
something about it. But what do you do? How do you do it? And what if
you can't change it?

The thing is, I like these movies that surprise me. This is one of
them. Go surprise yourself also, if you haven't yet seen this. :-)