Summary
50 First Dateshas become one of Adam Sandler’s most popular rom-coms, but its original plan had a completely different ending that, although sadder, would have been much better. Six years after their first collaboration inThe Wedding Singer, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore teamed up again to star in50 First Dates. Despite getting mixed reviews,50 First Dateswas a box-office success and has gotten different remakes, and although it has some big flaws, it’s one of the most popular Adam Sandler rom-coms.
50 First Datestook the audience to Oahu, Hawaii, to meet Henry Roth (Sandler), a marine veterinarian who avoids commitment. One day, he meets Lucy Whitmore (Barrymore), an art teacher with whom he quickly bonds. However, he learns Lucy had an accident the year before and now has anterograde amnesia, meaning she remembers everything up until the night before the accident but nothing after that. Henry goes to lengths to make their relationship work, and though50 First Dateshas a hopeful ending, the original one would have been sadder, but better.
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50 First Dates Wasn’t Always A Rom-Com In Hawaii
Originally,50 First Dateswas a drama set in Seattle.
50 First Dates’ original plan was very different in tone, setting, and more. The movie is now known as a rom-com set in Hawaii with a hopeful yet controversial ending, but the original plan took the story somewhere else. Speaking toVarietyto commemorate the movie’s 20th anniversary,Drew Barrymore shared that the original ending of50 First Dates(then called50 First Kisses) has stuck with her. Originally,50 First Dateswas a drama set in Seattle, but it was changed to Hawaii thanks to Sandler, who made various changes to the initial script, including many scenes at the café (viaEW).
Barrymore explained the original ending for50 First Dates, sharing that it sawLucy telling Henry to go and live his life because “this is no life here”. Henry went away and came back, walked into the restaurant, sat down, said “Hi, I’m Henry”, and that was it. It’s unclear how long it would have been between Henry leaving and his return and if there was a trip involved like in the final version of the movie, but although the original ending would have been sadder, it would have been a lot better.
Henry found himself in a very complex situation when he fell in love with Lucy, as it wasn’t just that he pretty much had to introduce himself every day and hope she would fall in love with him in one day, but he wasn’t giving Lucy much choice.Lucy had even moved on with her lifeand was teaching art at the hospital when Henry returned as he thought she might remember him, and they got back together.
The original ending would have meant that they wouldn’t have gotten back butLucy would have moved on the best way she could given her conditionand without going through the shock of watching a video of a life she doesn’t remember every morning, while Henry would have also moved on and carried on with his own plans.
50 First Dates’ Ending Is Actually Tragic
50 First Dates’ Ending Is Disguised As A Happy One
Lucy’s condition was going to bring lots of obstacles in her life, but encouraging Henry to move on and him really doing so would have been more beneficial for both.
Lucy’s condition doesn’t leave any room for a truly happy ending for her and Henry, andthe ending of50 First Datesis a tragic onedisguised as a happy one. As mentioned above, Lucy and Henry got back together and they traveled together on Henry’s boat (with Lucy’s father) and formed a family. To make their relationship work, Henry continued making videos for Lucy recapping their relationship for her to watch every morning, but there’s a lot to unpack in this “happy” ending.
There was a time when Lucy woke up to find herself pregnant all of a sudden, andsurely not all days were good ones for her even after watching the daily video. There’s also how Lucy’s condition affected her and Henry’s daughter, who had to introduce herself to her own mother every day. Lucy’s condition was going to bring lots of obstacles in her life, but encouraging Henry to move on and him really doing so would have been more beneficial for both.
How 50 First Dates’ Original Ending Would Have Changed The Movie’s Legacy
50 First Dates Would Have Fixed A Couple Of Problems
It feels like Lucy was stripped of all her agency and now had to spend her days with a man she doesn’t remember and on a boat far away from her home.
The ending of50 First Dateshas been endlessly criticized for everything Lucy had to go through every day after she and Henry got back together.The ending has been labeled as “creepy” by many viewersover the years as it does feel like Lucy was stripped of all her agency and now had to spend her days with a man she doesn’t remember and on a boat far away from her home.
The original ending would have fixed this by giving her a chance to move on in the best way for her, while Henry learned a much-needed lesson about how to treat women and what he really wanted in his life.50 First Dateswould have still been popular with its original ending and would have prompted a more positive conversation about it.
Sources:Variety,EW.
50 First Dates
Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore star in the 2004 romantic comedy 50 First Dates, which revolves around a womanizer’s attempts at winning over an amnesiac woman’s heart over and over, every day of her life. Frequent Adam Sandler collaborators Rob Schneider and Kevin James are part of the cast alongside Sean Astin, Dan Aykroyd, and Maya Rudolph.
