50 First Dates

  • Review Date: June 14, 2004
  • PG-13
  • Genre: Romance
  • 2004
 Review

Common Sense Media says

Silly, crude humor and a dash of romance.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that some of the male characters in this movie don't treat women with respect. They lie to get into bed with women, and talk badly about their wives. True to form, there are numerous sexual references along with some lewd language. But the leading bad- boy in the movie does an about-face by becoming a loving, devoted boyfriend to a woman with a disability.

  • Though Henry starts out as a guy who lies to women he has one-night-stands with in order to keep himself unattached, he ends up being devoted to Lucy. In fact, he becomes so devoted that he helps her to overcome her disability. This is a comedy with some lewd and gross moments, as well as comedic portrayal of people with disabilities, but there is heart that beats beneath the surface.
  • Henry definitely starts out as the poster boy for bad behavior, but he shapes up into a stand-up guy by the end of the movie. Lucy is a model of compassionate and kind behavior. Henry does use knowledge of Lucy's soft side to his advantage, but she knows how to stand up for herself -- she even protects herself by wielding sports equipment when she needs to.
  • Slapstick violence includes a character being beaten with a baseball bat by a woman (but he's not injured). Lucy is in a car accident and suffers from memory loss, which is a sadness that affects her family daily. A mention that Lucy's mother is deceased.
  • From the start, we learn that Henry dates and has sex with many women. References to these escapades include comments like, "He pounded me like a mallard duck." Though crude references and gestures are made, there are no naked images. Some kissing and feeling up.
  • Offhanded cursing, though pretty frequent: "s--t," "t-ty dance," "ass," "asshole," "balls," "bastard," "bitch," "boob," "booty," "butt," "damn," "dammit," "Goddammit," "hell," "jerk," "piss," "pissed," "crap," "slut," "nympho." Rude gestures like the middle finger show up a number of times too.
  • Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Spam get a strong send-up.
  • Numerous references to smoking weed, including a scene where Ula is smoking pot and one where he is eating a pot brownie and feeding it to a dolphin. Characters drink beers or hard alcohol in almost every night-time scene. A woman drinks so that she will lose her inhibitions and have sex with Henry (he stops her). Lucy's brother admits to taking steroids.

What's the story?

Lucy (Drew Barrymore) wakes up every morning with no memory of anything that happened since her brain was injured in a car crash 18 months before. Henry Roth (Adam Sandler) is an affable marine veterinarian at a Hawaiian aquarium who's had many, many short-term relationships with female tourists, which keep him safe from commitment. Then he meets Lucy, whose short-term memory impairment makes it impossible for her to make any kind of commitment. But he falls in love with her.


Is it any good?

 

Yes, it's another Adam Sandler movie, which means that a sweet but very immature man will fall for a winsome young lady amidst many, many, many attempts to find humor in sexual orientation, the impact of steroid use on sexual function, the relative merits of different sexual partners, getting walloped on the head, getting walloped on the stomach, getting bit by a shark, various physical disabilities and impairments, and more references to penis size and sexual stamina than a mailbox full of spam.

Barrymore is as delicious as ever, and, as in The Wedding Singer, she and Sandler have an easy chemistry that showcases their offbeat appeal. But some viewers will find there is too little romance and too much gross-out humor. And some will be sorry about the waste of talented performers like Dan Aykroyd, as Lucy's doctor, and Sean Astin (Rudy) as Lucy's lisping, steroid-using brother.


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What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about the tape Henry makes for Lucy. If you had to make a similar tape of your family, what would you put on it?

  • When is it OK to laugh about a disability and when is it not? Were there any jokes that crossed the line? Can you think of movies that have crossed the line?


This review was written by Nell Minow
Teen, 14 years old
April 11, 2011
 
perfect for teens and older tweens
i liked this movie, but we watched it on tv so i dont know how bad it is. my dad made me cover my eyes in one part, but mostly clean.

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Teen, 17 years old
June 23, 2009
 
Hilarious, but really not that great content-wise
This movie is one of my favorites, and is hilarious. When watching it, my mom cried with laughter! But there are some things you need to know before letting your kids watch it. First of all, there is TONS of sex and sexual references. Second, there is tons of language, that really shouldn't be in a PG-13 movie. And of course, there are product placements for spam ,the beach boys, and Reese's and smoking/drinking. Older, waaaaay more mature kids will enjoy it. When I first saw it, I didn't get half of it so that is the only way I have seen it.

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Teen, 16 years old
May 15, 2010
 
Not your stereotypical chick-flick!
I watched this movie last night with my best friend, and it was great! She'd seen it before, but said she really enjoyed watching it again, and I loved seeing it for the first time. Although it was a chick-flick, it was really great, I think mostly because of the talented actors and the touching way that Adam's character treated Lucy all through the movie! It was an awesome chick-flick with a twist, definitely worth a watching, or two!

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Teen, 16 years old
February 8, 2009
 
Very origoinal, very sweet and very funny romantic comedy teens and parents will love!
This is a very, very, very good movie! it's sweet, funy, and very origional, but there are some issues: 1. mostly comic violince including bonks on the head. 2. Some strong language including pultiple S--t's, as well as A-s, Boobies, Bas--d, the fingier is flashed twice. 3. Quite a bite of sexual content including implied sex, and many sexual jokes. 4. it is implied that people are on drugs, but none are seen. OVerall this is a fantastic movie for teens and their parents.

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Teen, 17 years old
January 4, 2010
 
AMAZING & FUNNY! 13+
AMAZING MOVIE! Drew and Adam have made another movie great! I love the whole "I love you so i'll make you love me everyday, even if you wont remember me the next day, i'll make u remember" its a very sweet movie. A MUST SEE for Drew and Adam lovers! (which i am)

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Parent of 8 and 13 year old
September 27, 2009
 
cute comedy ruined by crude sexual humor
Gratuitous crude sexual jokes (e.g., guy licks coconuts he's wearing as drag get-up) and swearing totally cancel out a cute story. [Ditsy blond (i.e. no memory) female stereotype is the least of it's problems.) Who is this movie's target audience?

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Teen, 16 years old
July 2, 2009
 
Raunchy, but sweet comedy for teens.
Parents should know that this warm comedy does contain crude references to drugs and sex. Discussion of "wet dreams," vomit, are abundant and there is off-color potty humor. Language is scattered along the film, but messages of love prevail.

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Teen, 16 years old
March 21, 2011
 
Fifty First Dates is one of the best romantic comedies I have seen in a long time. It is kind of inappropriate, mostly in the sexual and language departments, but it was HILARIOUS!! I watched the movie with my six-year-old brother the other day (probably a lapse in judgement on my mom's part) and I noticed he didn't catch most of the sexual jokes anyway, and didn't ask about them later so it is fine to watch it with little kids if you have to. Again, one of the best romantic comedies I have seen in forever!

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Adult
August 20, 2009
 

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Kid, 13 years old
June 13, 2010
 
Phenomenal!
I love this movie! little kids might not get all of the humor, though. It's kinda sad, but teaches about true love.

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This review was written by Nell Minow
Studio:Columbia Tristar
Director:Peter Segal
Cast:Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Rob Schneider
Genre:Romance
Run time:96 minutes
Theatrical release date:February 13, 2004
DVD release date:June 15, 2004
MPAA rating:PG-13
MPAA explanation:crude sexual humor and drug references.

This review was written by Nell Minow
 

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ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
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