50 First Dates

In 50 First Dates, Sandler’s movie that revolves least around comedy makes many commentaries about the values that we regard highly in American society.  In the movie Sandler plays a character by the name of Henry Roth.  At the beginning of the movie we see Sandler presented as a promiscuous man who is very proud of his sexual accomplishments.  One day in a diner Sandler runs into a beautiful woman named Lucy, played by Drew Barrymore.  From that point on Sandler falls madly in love with the girl and cant stop thinking about her.  It seems as if Sandler is going to leave his promiscuous ways and attempt to settle down for the first time. 

The next day Sandler returns to the restaurant in hopes of talking to the girl again and maybe asking her out on a date.  Sandler is very surprised, however, when the girl acts as if she had never met him before in her life, despite their extensive conversation the previous day.  Before Sandler gets very upset, the owner of the café takes him away from the table to talk.  He explains that a few years ago, Lucy was in a car accident and as a result each morning she thinks that it is the same day, she lives her life in repeat and never has any recollection of what happened the day before.

While the plot of the movie seems rather outlandish, the message that it sends and the comments that it makes upon our society are substantial.  Love is one of the most important facets of our society and a thing that is minimally understood.  In the movie Sandler tries to comment on how we regard, or how we should regard love in our society. The main point that he is trying to make is that love is blind in our society.  With each passing day, Lucy cannot remember ever meeting Sandler but when he reminds her every morning that they are in love, she falls back in love with him.  Sandler takes the notion that in our society love is blind and takes it to the most literal level and shows that no matter what hardships exist, the importance of love is limitless. 

Mr. Deeds

Mr. Deeds is one of Sandler’s more popular comedies that was released in 2002.  Unlike most of Sandler’s movies, this film is much more of a romantic comedy than many of his other works.  The movie begins outlining the fortune of Preston Blake, an extremely wealthy businessman who amounted a $40 billion fortune.  We also learn that Blake was a daredevil and throughout his life attempted many risky adventured.  Climbing Mount Everest, however, proved to be his final challenge as he froze to death at the summit.  After his death, it became apparent that he didn’t seem to have any close family members that would inherit his fortune.  After extensive search, Blake’s heir is found to be Longfellow Deeds (Adam Sandler), a man who runs a small pizza shop in a very rural New Hampshire town.  Once Deed’s is summoned to New York to meets with the heads of the company, he learns that he has inherited this tremendous wealth. 

It is this inheritance of extreme fortune that makes a clear reference to traditional American values that one would not expect to be found in a movie like this.  Upon further examination, however, it becomes clear that this story clearly follows the same outline of the Horatio Alger “Rags to Riches” tale.  Deed’s was clearly presented as a hardworking American who just was trying to make a living owning a pizza shop.  While the way in which Deeds gets his money doesn’t exactly follow the “Rags to Riches” tale, it still comments on American society in that if one works hard, he or she will eventually be rewarded.  This movie also seems to be relevant to the Boskin article, “American Dream/American Laugh”, which describes the American dream as it is related to the humor of our culture.  This article aptly describes Mr. Deeds, because while the movie is often goofy and comedic as it appeals to American humor, it also incorporates the notion of achieving the highly sought after “American Dream”.  The movie ties together the quintessential aspects of the American Dream and excellently weaves it into popular comedy.