The Wedding Singer (1998)

I've finally seen The Wedding Singer, or Happy Gilmore meets Saving Silverman. My favorite serious (post-2000) Adam Sandler movies were (in descending order) Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish, and 50 First Dates; from his juvenile (pre-2000) period, my only favorite was Happy Gilmore. Until now. The Wedding Singer is a creative paean to '80s pop music. Adam is Robbie, the rockstar wannabe who settled for a career as a wedding singer and a vocation as the amiable schmuck who does favors for everyone -- until realizes he's missing out. He happens upon perky Drew Barrymore and they fall in love -- short weeks before each of them plans to marry someone else. (Twists ensue.) What are two sweet kids gonna do? Adam channels his inner Gilmore a few times to vent his rage, most memorably to sing the Cure-ish song "Love Stinks." Drew's bemused expressions are always a vision, esp. as she waits for a flight to Las Vegas. Everyone in the ensemble cast gets the spotlight and shines in their supporting or bit parts, which also makes this movie memorable. But what what really frosts the cake is the '80s hair, the '80s clothes, and the '80s music -- piles of it! (Don't miss the '80s references or the '80s relics either. Billy Idol is a hoot at the end.) And who can forget Adam's sweet falsetto closing song "Grow Old With You"? (Or for that matter, after taking in this movie, who can forget the old chestnut "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" -- and like it that way?) I'd give The Wedding Singer an easy 4 stars but its unnecessarily vulgar language soured me down to 3.5 stars. (2-7-09)