50 First Dates starts like any romantic comedy: A serial womanizer meets the woman of his dreams and changes for the better. Their love story has one major twist: She can’t retain new memories. Therefore, she will never remember him for more than about 24 hours. Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler’s chemistry makes 50 First Dates a favorite of many rom-com fans. It’s considered one of Sandler and Barrymore’s best romantic comedies. It’s a memorable rom-com, but not without some questionable choices. Decades later, the 50 First Dates ending didn’t age so well…or did it?
The film falls into the category of movies that have complicated implications if you think about it critically. The 50 First Dates ending especially blurs the lines of romantic and weird.
What Happened At The End of 50 First Dates
While Henry (Adam Sandler) is on his boat heading away from the island, he recalls that Lucy (Drew Barrymore) sings on the days that they interact. He interprets this as her remembering him. He then later learns that she’s in the hospital with others who have memory issues. Henry asks if she remembers him. She doesn’t but she shows him various drawings of him. She dreams about Henry every night.
Several years later, Lucy wakes up alone and plays the video explaining everything. This time it reveals that they are married. She goes outside and realizes that they’re on a boat. She then finds Henry, her father (Blake Clark), and their daughter.
A Tragic And Dark Take Of The Ending
The 50 First Dates ending can be seen in two ways: tragically or romantically. Let’s explore the tragedy. Lucy loses all ability to control her life while married to Henry. She couldn’t control it much with her father and brother (Sean Astin). Therefore, she finds herself at the whim of one man to another. Lucy, in many ways, loses her ability to make choices. Sandler enjoys playing very funny but sometimes shady dudes. They are some of his best and worst characters. Henry falls within that world of characters. He lies to and manipulates a lot of other women before meeting Lucy.
Despite his past behavior, Henry changed because he fell in love. Therefore, he most likely doesn’t use the situation to manipulate Lucy… but he has the power to do it. He controls her knowledge. He might not manipulate her in big ways but could in smaller ones. For example, maybe on one of their repeating days, they fight and she’s mad at him. He could easily manipulate the situation by adding a part in the tape that resolves it in his favor. We also don’t know how Lucy and Henry made these big life decisions over many years that feel like a day to Lucy. Henry could just tell her what he wants her to believe. He could make these life decisions and convince Lucy that they decided them together.
However, Lucy does keep a journal and has her father around. This could mean that the journal and her parent ensure that she isn’t manipulated in any way by Henry. If you choose to believe that Henry is honorable in his relationship with Lucy, you still can’t deny the other tragic consequences of her condition. She will never truly get to watch her daughter grow up. She will only see things shown to her in photos and videos, instead of remembering these experiences. She may subconsciously remember them but not consciously.
Additionally, this experience of having a mother who doesn’t remember her could be frustrating and heartbreaking for her daughter, especially as she grows older. Plus, Lucy herself lives in a constant state of confusion because of her condition. She will only grow more confused as she and the world change physically. Every new day brings a new set of challenges and adjustments. Lucy’s condition makes her whole life a constant struggle for herself and those she loves.
A Romantic Take Of The Ending
50 First Dates is truly one of those films where perspective influences how you view it. If you look at the movie through a romantic lens, then Henry’s actions are grand and loving. Despite their obstacles, Henry chooses to stay with Lucy. It isn’t easy for him either to have the woman he loves forget him every day. He must put effort into their relationship daily to make it work. It’s not an easy romance. Additionally, if Henry didn’t come into Lucy’s life, she would continuously relive the same day. She would stop growing and developing. She could eventually become cripplingly lonely. Plus, the other alternative is to spend the rest of her life in a hospital.
Just because Lucy has a condition doesn’t mean she’s any less worthy of love, choices, and a happy life. She also loves Henry enough to have some part of her subconscious remember their life. Lucy still gets to live a full life despite only remembering it for one day. She gets those big moments of joy every day. Additionally, Lucy’s memory loss makes it important that Henry make every day special for her. The 50 First Dates ending very much embodies the idea of staying with someone through sickness and in health.
The Alternate Ending
In an Entertainment Weekly interview, 50 First Dates director Peter Segal shared that the film didn’t have a drastically different ending, like some other films, but originally went in a slightly different direction.
This ending is very different from the original script version, which had Lucy waking up in bed and immediately looking at a mural on the ceiling that tells the story of her accident and life since. As her eyes pan from left to right, she turns to see Henry lying next to her in bed, and in this version, they didn't have children.
With this alternate ending, Lucy learns about her life from her images as she adds new ones each day. The ending changed to complete Henry’s journey. They wanted him to still get his dream of studying walruses. Unlike other films with controversial endings, the 50 First Dates ending only calls for some debate. It could have resolved some of the ending’s issues by sticking to the original script. This gives Lucy more autonomy with her life and how she learns about it. The original 50 First Dates ending also eliminates the complications that a child presents in this film.
Segal also mentioned discussions on a cure for Lucy’s memory issues. According to the 50 First Dates director, the studio debated it but everyone supported the eventual “bittersweet” ending.
The studio debated, should Lucy be cured and it be a happy ending? And I'm so glad everyone supported this bittersweet ending because that's what was so heartbreaking about it, that she has to re-experience this every day. And it's so amazing what Henry does for her every day. It breaks your heart for both characters, what one has to go through and the other has to endure, and I think that's part of the charm and heartbreak of it.
You can make an argument for the tragic or the romantic perspective of the 50 First Dates ending. It’s tragic because Lucy’s lack of memories makes her vulnerable to manipulation. She also will never truly know Henry or her daughter. It’s romantic because it’s the enduring love story of two people who fight every day to make it work. They have a huge, devastating obstacle but don’t quit on each other. Whichever way you look at the 50 First Dates ending, it is a very entertaining romantic comedy with two very charismatic leads and plenty of funny Sandler quotes.
