After all these recent 1970s movies, their retro appeal is growing thin. But hey, filmmakers can still tap into 1980s nostalgia! After all, that decade was way campier than any other era, as made evident by this new comedy, which has the good idea of taking place in 1985. What we get is an hilarious atmosphere, from the ridiculous clothes to the cheesy yet enjoyable music. And the hairdos!

The film stars Adam Sandler, who I’ve loved since he was on Saturday Night Live. Sandler is one of the most hilarious performers in Hollywood nowadays, and though his comedy style is often raunchy, he can be also be a real sweet guy and he has irresistible charisma. Like Jim Carrey, the great Sandoo is able to take a near-weak film and beat the hell out of it, making it more entertaining than a lot of its betters.

Here he plays a wedding singer who falls for a waitress played by the extremely cute Drew Barrymore. Sandler’s as funny as he’s ever been and Barrymore is down right lovable, which makes for an involving romantic comedy even though the story is sappy and predictable. You know the drill: they’re both attached to the wrong person, she to a jackass yuppie (Matthew Glave), he to a fluffy airhead (Angela Featherstone). It’s obvious they love each other, but Adam and Drew keep reading false signals and misunderstanding each other, and so on.

I admit it, that’s a tired, boring plot but ultimately, it’s just the thread that binds the countless hilarious scenes and songs together, and Barrymore and Sandler are such likable actors that you actually want them to get their happy end. The film also features Steve Buscemi in a side-splitting cameo as a bitter drunken best man, as well as Jon Lovitz as a rival wedding singer and even Billy Idol (I guess he’s still alive, though he looks wretched).

“The Wedding Singer” is as entertaining as movies get. The almost never-miss comedy makes up for the unexceptionnal storyline, and Frank Coraci happens to be a skillful enoughmainstream director. This is my favorite Sandler vehicle so far, maybe because of all the amusing throwaway ’80s references and the many musical numbers, from the opening Sandler cover of Dead or Alive’s You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) to the climactic performance of Spandau Ballet’s True by good ole Buscemi, but also the hilariously disturbing versions of Holiday and Love Stinks, as well as Somebody Kill Me, a The Cure-esque original by Sandler. This film makes you realize that the ’80s are where it’s at!