50
FIRST DATES ($29) is goofy, good-natured romantic fun and a rather
enjoyable little movie, although I don’t think this film has the instant
classic quality of Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore’s previous pairing in
THE WEDDING SINGER. In 50 FIRST DATES, Sandler portrays
Henry Roth, a man who has a serious problem making a commitment to any
woman, and thus, takes advantage of living in Hawaii by dating one
beautiful tourist after another. One morning, Henry meets Lucy Whitmore
(Barrymore) in a local restaurant and they have marvelous time together.
Amazingly, Henry is smitten with Lucy and when he goes back to the
restaurant to hook up with her again- Lucy has absolutely no clue who
Henry is.
As
it turns out, Lucy was in a serious automobile accident about a year ago
and has lost her ability to retain her short-term memories. Every night
when Lucy goes to sleep, she forgets everything that has happened to her
in the previous day. Waking up every morning Lucy follows the same
routine, as though it were the day of her accident, with her father (Blake
Clark) and brother (Sean Astin) maintaining a rather elaborate charade to
protect her from the truth. Of course, Henry remains very taken with Lucy
and after a series of first dates, he falls in love with her, which leaves
him with the dilemma of finding new ways for her to fall in love with him
each and every day. The cast of 50 FIRST DATES also includes Rob
Schneider, Lusia Strus, Amy Hill, Maya Rudolph, Nephi Pomaikai Brown and
Joe Nakashima.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made 50 FIRST DATES available on DVD
in a 2.35:1 widescreen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on
16:9 displays (a separate full screen version is also available for anyone
who cares). This is a great looking wide screen transfer of a really nice
looking movie. 50 FIRST DATES takes good advantage of the Hawaiian
scenery and the DVD offers a visually pleasing representation of the film.
The image is nicely sharp and produces a very solid level of detail.
Colors are bright and fully saturated, while flesh tones produce a nice
healthy glow. Blacks are accurately rendered, whites are crisp, plus the
image produces good shadow detail and very smooth contrast. The film
elements used for the transfer are very clean, and display relatively
little appreciable grain. Digital compression artifacts remain well
concealed throughout.
50
FIRST DATES comes with a better than average comedy mix. As expected
the forward soundstage tends to dominate; however, the surround channels
are put to good use on occasion. However, ambient sounds and musical fill
are generally the backbone of rear channel activity. Dialogue is always
intelligible and the voices usually sound quite natural. Fidelity is
rather good, which enhances the score, as well as the pop tunes featured
on the soundtrack. The bass channel gets the job done, but isn’t going
to shake the house to the foundation. A French 5.1 channel track is also
encoded onto the DVD, as are English and French subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as some nice extras. Director Peter Segal and
actress Drew Barrymore are on hand for a running audio commentary track,
and while their talk is enjoyable enough, this isn’t the most
technically minded track on the market. The Dating Scene is
a twenty-minute look behind-the-scenes with the usual complement of
interviews. Talkin’ Pidgin spends five minutes reviewing
the Hawaiian slang used in the movie. Rob Schneider hosts Reel
Comedy, which provides another twenty-minute look
behind-the-scenes. Five deleted scenes with optional commentary are also
provided on the disc, as is a blooper reel, three music videos,
filmographies and previews for other Columbia titles.
50
FIRST DATES is a fun movie that makes for another solid pairing of
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. Columbia’s wide screen DVD looks and
sounds great and offers some nice extras. If you like quirky romantic
comedy, with a nice dose of lowbrow humor, you can’t go wrong with 50
FIRST DATES.
50
FIRST DATES ($29) is goofy, good-natured romantic fun and a rather
enjoyable little movie, although I don’t think this film has the instant
classic quality of Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore’s previous pairing in
THE WEDDING SINGER. In 50 FIRST DATES, Sandler portrays
Henry Roth, a man who has a serious problem making a commitment to any
woman, and thus, takes advantage of living in Hawaii by dating one
beautiful tourist after another. One morning, Henry meets Lucy Whitmore
(Barrymore) in a local restaurant and they have marvelous time together.
Amazingly, Henry is smitten with Lucy and when he goes back to the
restaurant to hook up with her again- Lucy has absolutely no clue who
Henry is.
As
it turns out, Lucy was in a serious automobile accident about a year ago
and has lost her ability to retain her short-term memories. Every night
when Lucy goes to sleep, she forgets everything that has happened to her
in the previous day. Waking up every morning Lucy follows the same
routine, as though it were the day of her accident, with her father (Blake
Clark) and brother (Sean Astin) maintaining a rather elaborate charade to
protect her from the truth. Of course, Henry remains very taken with Lucy
and after a series of first dates, he falls in love with her, which leaves
him with the dilemma of finding new ways for her to fall in love with him
each and every day. The cast of 50 FIRST DATES also includes Rob
Schneider, Lusia Strus, Amy Hill, Maya Rudolph, Nephi Pomaikai Brown and
Joe Nakashima.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made 50 FIRST DATES available on DVD
in a 2.35:1 widescreen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on
16:9 displays (a separate full screen version is also available for anyone
who cares). This is a great looking wide screen transfer of a really nice
looking movie. 50 FIRST DATES takes good advantage of the Hawaiian
scenery and the DVD offers a visually pleasing representation of the film.
The image is nicely sharp and produces a very solid level of detail.
Colors are bright and fully saturated, while flesh tones produce a nice
healthy glow. Blacks are accurately rendered, whites are crisp, plus the
image produces good shadow detail and very smooth contrast. The film
elements used for the transfer are very clean, and display relatively
little appreciable grain. Digital compression artifacts remain well
concealed throughout.
50
FIRST DATES comes with a better than average comedy mix. As expected
the forward soundstage tends to dominate; however, the surround channels
are put to good use on occasion. However, ambient sounds and musical fill
are generally the backbone of rear channel activity. Dialogue is always
intelligible and the voices usually sound quite natural. Fidelity is
rather good, which enhances the score, as well as the pop tunes featured
on the soundtrack. The bass channel gets the job done, but isn’t going
to shake the house to the foundation. A French 5.1 channel track is also
encoded onto the DVD, as are English and French subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as some nice extras. Director Peter Segal and
actress Drew Barrymore are on hand for a running audio commentary track,
and while their talk is enjoyable enough, this isn’t the most
technically minded track on the market. The Dating Scene is
a twenty-minute look behind-the-scenes with the usual complement of
interviews. Talkin’ Pidgin spends five minutes reviewing
the Hawaiian slang used in the movie. Rob Schneider hosts Reel
Comedy, which provides another twenty-minute look
behind-the-scenes. Five deleted scenes with optional commentary are also
provided on the disc, as is a blooper reel, three music videos,
filmographies and previews for other Columbia titles.
50
FIRST DATES is a fun movie that makes for another solid pairing of
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. Columbia’s wide screen DVD looks and
sounds great and offers some nice extras. If you like quirky romantic
comedy, with a nice dose of lowbrow humor, you can’t go wrong with 50
FIRST DATES.
