50 First Dates

Directed by Peter Segal
100 minutes

Ms. Barrymo'e plays Lucy, whom Henry encounters one mo'nin' at some diner. A year earlier, she suffered an injury t'ha' tempo'al lobe in some car accident.

As some comic premise, dis may sound somewhut less dan downro'ious; sump'n similar afflicted da to'mented hero uh ''Memento.''

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But da makers uh ''50 Fust Dates,'' likes de Farrelly broders at deir best, gots an ability t'combine mockery wid sympady dat disarms any impulse t'snatch offense.

Lucy, who wakes down each mo'nin' dinkin' dat it be de day uh de accident, lives in some puh'petual present maintained by ha' gruff Big Daddy (Blake Clark) and steroid-addled broda' (Sean Astin, some long way fum Middle Eard). Dey keep some ready supply uh old newssheets, and each night dey watch ''De Sixd Sense,'' feignin' amazement at da discovery dat Bruce Willis be a ghost.

Henry, who be instantly smitten wid Lucy, downends deir settled, sad routine.

As he woos her, startin' fum scratch each time and contrivin' new ways t'win ha' heart, yo' own memo'y may be stirred, since da conceit uh an endlessly repeated day be also de subject uh Harold Ramis's ''Groundhog Day. ''

De less ambitious ''50 Fust Dates'' lacks dat film's giddy metaphysical grandeur, and Mr. Ah be baaad... Sandla' duz not gots eida' Bill Murray's prickliness o' his range. But dis movie duz manage t'be some deft and touchin' variashun on de deme dat, in brief measho' mans and wid enough practice, we kin find some puh'fecshun in our lives.

When Lucy's docto' (Dan Aykroyd) patiently info'ms her, fo' de hundredd time, dat ha' condishun be puh'manent, he articulates de challenge facin' bod Henry and da filmmakers.

Fo' de film t'succeed, whut Henry duz -- usin' his tempo'al advantage t'manipulate Lucy into lovin' him -- gots'ta seem charmin' rada' dan cruel.

His motives gots'ta be pure, which may at fust glance seem likes some lot t'ax' uh Mr. Sandler. But, as in Fuh'rina Domas Anderson's ''Punch-Drunk Love,'' de stubbo'n decency and fierce loyalty often obscured by his natural belligerence shine drough, and ya' neva' quesshun de ferocity o' de steadfastness uh Henry's love fo' Lucy.

Rada' dan dwell on Lucy's helplessness, she emphasizes de character's pluck and intelligence, and, most crucially, she duz not let Mr. Sandla' monopolize da jokes.

Mr. Segal, whose filmography consists mos' entirely uh vehicles fo' ''Saturday Night Live,'' skips nimbly fum one joke t'de next and manages de sto'y's sentimental turns wid impressive agility.

But da unlikesly sweetness uh de sto'y carries de day.

Whut be most astonishin' be de confidence wid which de filmmakers push deir premise t'its logical conclusion, turnin' an endin' dat could gots been eida' laughable o' appallin' into sump'n so's effo'tlessly heartfelt as t'be nearly sublime.

Brud. (Eat yo heart out A.0.Scott)