I went into this movie expecting a lazy Adam Sandler comedy with a Hawaii postcard stapled to it. Twenty-two years later, the jokes still land, but what stuck with me is how stubborn the love story is. The premise sounds like a gag.
Henry Roth meets Lucy Whitmore; they click over breakfast, and the next day she has no idea who he is. Then you realize how much of the movie is about effort. Henry doesn’t win her once. He wins her every single day. This review has spoilers, including the ending.
The Storyline: One Day, Over and Over
Henry (Adam Sandler) is a marine veterinarian at Sea Life Park in Hawaii who only dates tourists because tourists leave. Then he meets Lucy (Drew Barrymore) at the Hukilau Cafe, where she builds little sculptures out of her waffles. They talk, they laugh, and he is completely gone.
The next morning she walks into the same cafe and treats him like a stranger.
Lucy lost her short-term memory in a car accident, and every night while she sleeps, the day is erased. Her father, Marlin, and her brother, Doug, have built a whole routine around it. Every day is October 13th, with the same newspaper, the same cake, and the same movie on the TV.
They are protecting her from the truth because they love her, and the film is honest that this is both kind and a little cruel. Henry decides he won’t be another thing she has to lose. So he starts over every morning, finding new ways to make her fall for him.
50 First Dates Cast: Who’s Who
The 50 First Dates cast is a big part of why the movie works, because Sandler and Barrymore genuinely like each other on screen. This was their second movie together, after The Wedding Singer.
Adam Sandler as Henry Roth
Drew Barrymore as Lucy Whitmore
Rob Schneider as Ula, Henry’s friend and loudest cheerleader
Sean Astin as Doug Whitmore, Lucy’s overprotective, bodybuilding brother
Blake Clark as Marlin Whitmore, Lucy’s father
Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Keats, Lucy’s neurologist
Barrymore has the hardest job. She has to play Lucy as someone meeting Henry fresh every time, without making her a joke, and she does it with real warmth. Sandler dials down the shouting and plays a man who is sweet and a little desperate. Schneider is the comic relief, though your mileage may vary on the Ula jokes.
Why It Works (And Where It Doesn’t)
Plenty of movies have played with memory loss, and I can only compare this to one without spoiling my own taste. The best sci-fi take I’ve seen is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. That film asks whether you would erase someone.
This one asks something simpler and, I think, braver: what if forgetting wasn’t a choice, and you loved them anyway?
The comedy is uneven. Some gags feel very 2004, and the supporting cast leans into broad jokes. But the emotional core holds up. The videotape scene, where Lucy watches Henry’s explanation of her own life and cries, is the point where the movie stops being a rom-com and starts being a real love story.
How Does 50 First Dates End?
Henry realizes he is keeping Lucy in a loop, so he lets her go. He leaves for Alaska to study walruses, and Lucy goes back to her routine, painting. Then she starts noticing that everything she paints is the same man. Dr. Keats helps her piece it together, and Henry’s videotape explains the rest.
Lucy decides she wants this life. She and Doug travel to find Henry, and the film jumps ahead years. Lucy wakes up on a boat off Alaska, confused as usual. Then she watches Henry’s tape, and she realizes she is married to him and has a daughter, Segolene. They are happy, and the routine has become their love story instead of their problem.
So how does 50 First Dates end? With a daily, deliberate “yes.” Henry never gets a cured Lucy. He gets to choose her, and she gets to choose him back, one morning at a time.
I’ll Rate It 4/5
If I had to sum up this 50 First Dates review in a sentence: it’s a goofy comedy with a surprisingly serious heart. It isn’t perfect, since some jokes feel dated and the supporting cast gets loud. But the final tape and the Alaska ending make it worth watching again.
Questions, Answered
Where Was 50 First Dates Filmed?
The movie was filmed in Oahu, Hawaii, with a few additional scenes shot in Southern California.
Who did Kevin James play in 50 First Dates?
A factory worker in an uncredited cameo. It was his first film appearance.
Is the Hukilau Cafe real?
No. It was a set built for the film and torn down after shooting.