The Wedding Singer

Sandler, a cult comedian here submerging himself in the mainstream, plays Robbie Hart, a wannabe rock star stuck on the wedding band circuit. He's happy enough, until his own bride leaves him standing at the altar - which prompts the film's funniest scene, a bitter breakdown in professional decorum at his next gig, when he turns into the wedding singer from hell. Luckily for Robbie, the delicious Julia (Drew Barrymore) is waitressing in the wings. Her fiancé Glenn is bad news, so it can only be a matter of time before Robbie and Julia figure out they're made for each other. The movie is set in 1985 and won't let you forget it for a second. Culture Club, Huey Lewis, Nena, Billy Idol, Hall & Oates, The Cars, Kajagoogoo, Wham!, it's frightening how innocent all this stuff sounds now. Sandler himself sings in a personably reedy register, and sports an authentic, dopily romantic David Essex wig which somehow doesn't preclude our sympathy. As for Barrymore, playing a good girl at last, she deserves nothing less - you can't help pulling for the kids. Anyway, it's hard to be cynical about a film which finds time to let Alexis Arquette do Boy George and Buscemi tear up Spandau Ballet's 'True'.