Walrus vomit is a movie reviewer's best friend.

When something as ridiculous as a walrus blowing chunks happens within the first five minutes of a film, I know I'm going to have an easy job ahead of me. Because this means I can label the movie as either A) gross-out humor in really bad taste or B) gross-out humor in really bad taste, but still funny.

Unfortunately, I was misled by the marine-animal puke in the opening of the new Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore vehicle, 50 First Dates.

The movie starts out just as all Sandler flicks do, filled with crude humor of the A category. He's a Hawaiian marine vet who's a ladies man afraid of settling down. Rob Schneider plays his native stoner sidekick. What's wrong with this pairing is that the usually comical Sandler plays the straight guy this time, whereas the terminally humorless Schneider plays the goof.

But just as the movie prepares itself for a cliff dive, Barrymore's character steps in, and the film's tone completely changes. I already knew from the trailers that Barrymore was pulling a Bill Murray from Groundhog Day, except her short-term memory is from a car accident, and she's not in on the joke. What I wasn't prepared for was the real-life chemistry between Barrymore and Sandler or the simple sweetness of their growing romance.

Maybe it was the lush Hawaiian cinematography that reeled me in, but I actually found myself caring about these people. In the end, it was hard to categorize, but if this strange mixture of gross humor and sheer romanticism intrigues you, go see 50 First Dates. I'll just make that option C.

-- Reviewed by Megan McKenna