Wedding Singer – Looking to God

Robbie Hart

Posted on July 29, 2015July 28, 2015 by Jack Flacco

No matter how many times I watch The Wedding Singer, the character Robbie Hart always does something in the film that makes me think hard about true love. This time around, since I saw it a few weeks ago, it was all about the little things. Today, I’d like to talk about Robbie Hart and about what makes him so unique that I would include him in my Wednesday Warriors series.

Adam Sandler as Robbie Hart in The Wedding Singer

You know you’re in trouble when you look through your movie collection and all you can find is an Adam Sandler movie. In truth, that’s a good thing, since trouble means laughing through it even after multiple viewings haven’t diminished the impact of the content. The film The Wedding Singer is like that. Filled with inside jokes and funny transitions, the flick comes with two admirable stars whose chemistry flows from the screen.

Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) is a wedding singer who loses his fiancée at the altar. The no-show devastates him enough to cause him to have a meltdown of sorts. During this time, Julia Sullivan (Drew Barrymore), the new employee at the wedding hall he plays at, and his future romantic interest, promises to hire Hart’s band as the band who should play for her own wedding. As the story progresses, the two discover that their friendship is more than what they expect and confront their feelings for each other in one of the most sentimental and funniest movie endings.

What makes Robbie a unique character to admire is the way he handles life. Other than his fiancée dumping him, he doesn’t allow life to dictate the way he lives. He’s a wedding singer—how cool is that? Every weekend is party time. Additionally, given he lives in a small town where he grew up, he has decided to live his life where his kids can grow up safe and secure away from the big city madness that grips all twentysomethings like him.

He doesn’t make a lot of money. So what? He may not have the best of opportunities to move forward with his life. So what? He’s happy. That’s what counts. He realizes that, and anyone around him knows he’s the relaxed type who enjoys his time with friends and family. That counts for something, doesn’t it?

Regarding his relaxed attitude—nothing really bothers Robbie. One of his older students could pour two meatballs with sauce in his hands, but rather than get annoyed, he runs with it and is grateful for the thought. His best friend Julia has that same relaxed attitude. She doesn’t have a problem with Robbie’s wedding singer status, his small-town dreams and his penchant for laughing at the weirdest of things. She loves him just the same.

Which brings me to Robbie’s best character attribute. With him, it’s the little things:

I wanna make you smile whenever you’re sad
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad
All I wanna do is grow old with you.
I’ll get your medicine when your tummy aches
Build you a fire if the furnace breaks
Oh, it could be so nice, growin’ old with you.
I’ll miss you, kiss you, give you my coat when you are cold.
Need you, feed you, I’ll even let you hold the remote control.
So let me do the dishes in the kitchen sink
Put you to bed when you’ve had too much to drink.
Oh, I could be the man to grow old with you.
I wanna grow old with you.

If anything, Robbie Hart has heart. And in a world where things sometimes move too fast, Robbie is a welcome relief to de-stress and look at life through a different pair of eyes.

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What do you think of Robbie Hart. Have you seen The Wedding Singer?

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Lucy Whitmore

Posted on June 4, 2014June 3, 2014 by Jack Flacco

How would you feel waking up every morning and not remembering what happened the day before? Some would find it scary. Not to Lucy Whitmore. To Lucy, it’s such a part of life that she accepts it as normal. Only, she doesn’t know it.

This week’s Women Who Wow Wednesday series features a girl with a problem remembering things. If you haven’t seen 50 First Dates, I’ll try not to spoil it for you. Then again, perhaps you’ll read this post and not remember anything by the time it’s all over.

The movie 50 First Dates is Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore’s second venture on the big screen. The first being The Wedding Singer where Barrymore plays Julia, a waitress who meets Sandler’s character at a wedding hall and soon become friends. In this film, Lucy (Drew Barrymore) forgets. I won’t reveal how or why, but she can’t remember from one day to the next what she did, and everyone around her feels the burden, including Henry Roth (Adam Sandler).

An interesting tidbit about the movie is it reveals the twist ending to the film The Sixth Sense. I’ll tell you, I laughed the first time watching Lucy blurt out the details, because if you hadn’t watched The Sixth Sense, it would have been the biggest spoiler ever. At the time, I’m sure I could’ve heard the Hollywood executives curse up and down Beverly Hills for Sandler’s reckless inclusion of the horror flick’s most guarded secret.

And if you haven’t watched The Sixth Sense, then consider this your warning. You’re welcome.

Getting back to Lucy, her lack of remembering serves to protect her from bad memories, but also proves to make annual gatherings, such as birthdays, repetitive for everyone else except Lucy. She manages to make her daily routine always something fascinating to watch, especially after Henry comes into her life.

Despite her situation, Lucy manages to brighten a room with her smile and her paintings. An avid artist, Lucy paints a work of art every day and makes it her homage to her father, who patiently keeps her from getting hurt from external influences.

Lucy also sings whenever she is happy. She sings The Beach Boys, and she brings joy to everyone around her. If anything is true about Lucy, she’s a fresh burst of happiness and shows that happiness any way she knows how.

If you really enjoy characters who have a zeal for life, Lucy is it. Every time I watch this movie, she never ceases to put a smile on my face. I’m hoping she will do the same for you.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale October 21.

If you’ve seen 50 First Dates, what did you think of it? What did you think of Lucy?

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Julia Sullivan

Posted on May 28, 2014May 22, 2014 by Jack Flacco

When I grew up in the Eighties, the girls wore large hair, wide shoulder pads and long dresses. The guys, on the other hand, sported small collars, huge dress pants and thin belts. Bringing the sexes together was the color. Bright primary colors dominated the scene, wild hats became the norm, and to see guys with makeup was not an exaggeration.

The Saturday night parties became something special to look forward to as well. The music by The Police, Duran Duran and David Bowie blew all us kids away. The dance floor became a place where we could make a statement about who we were. We danced without shirts. We danced with everyone. And we had fun playing dare games while admiring each other’s styles. It was one big party.

The movie The Wedding Singer captures that era perfectly.

Julia Sullivan (Drew Barrymore) just started her job as a waitress at a banquet hall when she meets wedding singer Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) in the 1998 movie appropriately called The Wedding Singer. Right from the outset, Julia displays attributes female characters ought to possess in order for them to be part of my Women Who Wow Wednesday series. She doesn’t kick butt, but she certainly has that warm and fuzzy feeling surrounding her.

The first time meeting Julia we find out about her engagement. The problem, though, is she’s not sure how serious the guy is with his proposal. She says, “I feel like I’m doomed to wander the planet alone forever.” Which Robbie replies, “Like the Incredible Hulk.” They agree that Robbie would sing at her wedding, if it ever takes place. Revealed later in the film is Robbie’s engagement to his own fiancée. He hopes they would last fifty years, much like one of his vocal students’ marriage.

Julia’s fiancée eventually springs the news that he wants to marry in Las Vegas, but he cedes to getting married where she wants to marry. That’s the first sign of trouble. In the meantime, Robbie has his own problems. His fiancée dumps him and his latest wedding gig turns into a dirge. He has nothing to live for but the thought of stringing his neck to a clothesline until his feet shake lifeless.

Throughout it all, Julia shows Robbie what a true friend is. She stands by Robbie in his darkest times in spite of him wanting to kill the bride and groom at his upcoming wedding gig. Julia appreciates Robbie by asking his opinion about things that matter to her. She also brings him into her world by introducing him to her friends and family. That’s a big step for a girl only having friendship on her mind.

The thing about Julia is her warmth. As bad as things get, she’s always ready with a kind word, a quirky smile and a timid laugh. Something about Julia makes her shine. She is the perfect example of support during bad times. She lifts the spirit, lends an ear and gives of herself in whole, regardless of what anyone thinks of her.

Is there anything more we need to know about Julia? No. Julia’s the perfect friend.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale October 21.

If you’ve seen The Wedding Singer, what did you think of it?

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