The big differences between Astaire and Rogers in Swing Time and Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore in The Wedding Singer is that (1) in 1936 they were more sophisticated than we are now, and knew the plot was inane, and had fun with that fact, and (2) they could dance. One of the sad by-products of the dumbing-down of America is that we’re now forced to witness the goofy plots of the 1930s played sincerely, as if they were really deep.
