DATE MOVIE (2006)

Directed by Aaron Seltzer. Starring: Alyson Hanigan, Adam Campbell, Tony Cox, Eddie Griffin, Fred Willard, Sophie Monk, Tony Cox, Carmen Electra.Comedy Synopsis: A comedic spoof of some popular romantic comedies, with the previously ugly duckling waitress in a Greek restaurant being transformed into an attractive woman to catch the man of her dreams, with some stiff competition from her boyfriend's ex-fiancée.

This is a film that many people are not going to like, and it is important that, before you see/buy/rent it, you realize what you are getting yourself into. I was drawn to it since it came from some of the writers of the Scary Movie franchise, which I think is hilarious. Date Movie is not nearly up to par with spoof movies such as that, or the Naked Gun movies. However, it does deliver some laughs, as well as some crude attempts at humor that just don't fill the bill.

Look, aside from hormone driven 15 year old boys, we should understand that the type of humor we are going to see here is of the variety that, if it makes us laugh, we will feel a little bit guilty at some level. Understanding that, I must say that Date Movie is not as good in its own spoof genre as I expected it to be, and the biggest reason may be that, unlike Scary Movie, it is mostly spoofing movies that were already funny. So, if the spoof is not funnier than the original scene, it suffers even more than it normally would have. If the spoof is not funny at all, then we've got serious problems.

I can say that I think there are some laughs in this film for most people that are familiar with the movies or parts of popular culture that are being spoofed. I picked up spoofs and/or homage to the following films in Date Movie, and by no means is this list supposed to be complete, since there are things I'm sure I missed. My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Wedding Planner, When Harry Met Sally, Say Anything, Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, Bridget Jones Diary, King Kong, Kill Bill, Hitch, My Best Friend's Wedding, Lord of the Rings, There's Something About Mary, The Sopranos, The Bachelor, and Michael Jackson.

The other main problem with this film is that there is not really a story of its own, it simply goes from scene to scene, trying to spoof or pay homage to scenes from other movies or TV. The basic storyline is that of grossly overweight Julia Jones (Alyson Hanagan) who is stuck working for her father (Eddie Griffin Undercover Brother) in their Greek restaurant, and yearns to win the affections of the man of her dreams (Adam Campbell). She undergoes a radical transformation after seeing relationship specialist Hitch (Tony Cox) and is well on her way to happiness and potential marriage until her boyfriend's ex-fiancée, Andy (Sophie Monk) comes into the picture as the "Best Man" in the wedding. Sound ridiculous so far? Well, it is, and there is a good bit of crude humor along the way.

Frankly, I don't understand the "gross out" humor, e.g. toilet scenes, noises from bodily functions, and consumption of inedible things (in this movie chest hair) for laughs. Yeah, those things may have been funny as hell in the fifth grade (and even then, not to everyone), but c'mon, haven't we grown up a little since then?

On the other hand, it will be hard not to laugh at most of Eddie Griffin's antics, or the hilarious portrayal of the Barbra Streisand character during the meeting of Julia's soon to be in-laws. And Hanigan shows she can act, easily the best acting performance in the film.

Unfortunately, a comedic talent as good as Fred Willard could have been put to more and better use as well, and Carmen Electra fans should be forewarned that she only appears in the last minute of the movie.

All in all, you should know what you are getting into when you choose to watch this film. It's not as funny as some others of its unique and narrow genre but, if you are not above laughing at things or people when you know you shouldn't, you'll get a handful of guffaws in this one. And that's pretty much it.