Wedded Bliss

Even teen boys are buying into Sandler as nice-guy singer in romantic comedy. In “The Wedding Singer,” set in 1985, a nice-guy suburban singer (Adam Sandler) and a nice-girl waitress (Drew Barrymore) meet but don’t realize they’re falling in love because both are engaged to not-so-nice others. (Rated PG-13.)

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How often does a romantic comedy attract boys as much as, if not more than, girls?

John Weinman and Jeff Lawler saw the movie on a Saturday, liked it so much they bought the CD soundtrack that night, then returned Sunday to see the movie again. This time, the 16-year-olds from Lake Forest brought friends April Pettigrew, 14, and Laura Greenberg, 15.

The guys were so enthused over “The Wedding Singer,” its man-child comic star and its ‘80s-style new wave songs, April said with a sigh, that “they sing along.”

She explained: “They’re not normal.” She and Laura liked the love story too, but, April continued, the guys are “both getting over girls.”

According to John, the main attraction was comedian Adam Sandler. “He’s hilarious,” he said. Had he seen Sandler in “Billy Madison”? Sandler in “Happy Gilmore”?

“Seen ‘em all. Own ‘em all,” he said.

What John likes about Sandler’s humor is not only that it’s childish but also that it’s “down to earth. He’s really mellow. You can take his humor to heart.”

Particularly in this movie, the guys said, they liked the love story where, no surprise, the nice guy finishes first. Sandler’s Robbie Hart, a former rock singer who yearns to settle down, is a “good guy,” Jeff said. “He’s sensitive. He can be, like, emotional.”

When Robbie woos Julia with an original song, Jeff actually shed tears. John wouldn’t go that far, admitting only to “ah, a little dust in my eye.”

How nice is the wedding singer? He’s so nice he can diplomatically retrieve the microphone from a groom’s drunken, embittered, secret-revealing brother and soon have the wedding party smiling again. So nice, he can make the day for a rejected kid at a bar mitzvah by getting him a dance with the pretty waitress Julia. So nice, he teaches music to an old woman who pays him with meatballs. So nice, he doesn’t realize his fiancee, Linda, doesn’t love him until she fails to show up for the wedding.

But he has an edge too. Robbie pours cynicism into “Love Stinks,” his subsequent serenade for newlyweds, and a bittersweet ballad for Linda, a woman who wanted a more successful beau, that alternates between love and hatred. His vocabulary comes from the street.

Born into the pop culture of the early ‘80s, the young teens the movie attracted enjoyed the references to old-fashioned artifacts such as a Rubik’s cube, $700 CD players and Michael Jackson’s single silver glove. Diana Inomata, 14, of Irvine said, “I don’t remember much about the ‘80s, but I heard about it from my parents.”

Her friend Michelle Raji, 13, of Irvine added: “My dad would love the music in here.”

The girls wished the love story could have continued into the future and said they would have loved to see the disloyal Linda get who she deserved--Julia’s cheating fiance.

Bret Ahmed, 15, and his brother Lorne, 12, of Irvine, who--along with their mother--had also seen the movie twice, said they especially liked the music. Besides Sandler’s own comic songs, the film features more than 30 others from groups popular in the ‘80s, including the Smiths, Psychedelic Furs, Flock of Seagulls and Billy Idol.

The brothers too had seen all of Sandler’s films, which were fun at the time but slip from memory, they said. Explained Lorne: “We saw this other movie with him in it, but we don’t remember what it was.”

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PARENTS’ PERSPECTIVE: Though the language might be too strong for younger kids, many parents found nothing objectionable in “The Wedding Singer” for young teens.

“They see worse on TV and the news, let me tell you,” Janet Ahmed said. The best part for her was that it was a movie where you didn’t have to think. “You just enjoyed it.”

Nina Raji agreed. “I thought it was a funny movie. You don’t see just relaxing, funny movies anymore. This is just entertaining. This is refreshing.”