This film is recommended only for fans of Takayuki Yamada and Masami Nagasawa who are nostalgic over the two’s last performance together in 2007’s romance Say Hello For Me.
read more
50 First Kisses is a Japanese remake of the 2004 Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore romantic comedy 50 First Dates.
Replacing Adam Sandler is Takayuki Yamada, who plays womanising tour guide Daisuke Yuge. At a cafe one day, Yuge meets Drew Barrymore-replacement Masami Nagasawa’s character Rui Fujishima. He chats her up as he is wont to do with beautiful women, but discovers the next day that she has promptly forgotten him. It turns out that she suffers from a kind of amnesia that prevents her from retaining new memories.
50 First Kisses seemed promising at the start, when Yuge meets Fujishima and tries to woo her despite learning of her amnesia. The first act has decent character setup and physical comedy. But from the moment, Yuge meets Fujishima’s father and brother, the film loses its footing and the plot becomes repetitive.
Amidst the wooden performances and clunky English dialogue spoken by second-rate supporting actors, the bits and pieces of light-hearted comedy sketches between the two leads barely keeps the film afloat. And despite the by-the-numbers scripting of 50 First Kisses, the two actors acquit themselves well. They have palpable chemistry and are fun to watch.
This film is recommended only for fans of Takayuki Yamada and Masami Nagasawa who are nostalgic over the two’s last performance together in 2007’s romance Say Hello For Me.
read less