Date Movie

This movie was quite a bit of fun, with the expected amount of spoofs, immature yet funny slapstick, and a variety of other unsophisticated yet still quite entertaining jokes. I doubt there are any surprises here, but for those who like silly, ridiculous comedies then this one will not disappoint.

Julia Jones (Alyson Hannigan), an amalgam of Bridget Jones and Toula Portokalos from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, is single, overweight, and extremely lonely. Her father, Frank (Eddie Griffin), employs her at the family's restaurant and constantly attempts to set her up with the undesirable yet culturally compatible handyman Nicky. Julia resists, however, and instead hires Hitch (Tony Cox) to make her hot and fix up her love life, which he does by entering her in The Extreme Bachelor where she meets Grant Funkyerdoder (Adam Campbell). After several mini spoofs, the two decide to get married, and the movie moves into full-on Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers mockery, which works surprisingly well. Grant introduces Julia to his best friend, Andy (Sophie Monk), who turns out to be a gorgeous but conniving seductress, and she does her very best to break up the wedding.

As with the Scary Movie films, there were a squillion references to countless different date movies, and most were pretty hilarious. I was impressed with the screenwriters' ability to make a comedy about other comedies, and most of their spoofs were just about dead on. The bulk of the movie centers around a Meet the Fockers and My Best Friend's Wedding storyline, but there were always plenty of references to other movies scattered throughout. Jennifer Coolidge does a ridiculously funny impersonation of Barbra Streisand, and even though every single preview for this movie focused on the cat using the bathroom spoof from Meet the Parents, I still found that scene to be particularly entertaining. Normally I'm not one for the poop jokes, but I suppose if one insists on including them in a movie, this would be the way to go about it. Eddie Griffin was absolutely in his element in this film, and he seemed like he was having an awfully good time with his role. Personally I thought he was one of the funniest characters in the entire movie.

Alyson Hannigan has always been adept in comedic roles, and this one was no exception. Tony Cox was a very worthy co-star, however, and at one point he did an imitation of Brad Pitt (and later of Matthew McConaughey) that was so perfect that I couldn't concentrate on the movie anymore for laughing so hard. There were certainly some moments that I thought were a little lamer than others, but on the whole I was happy with what I saw.

This is obviously a type of humor for a very specific audience, one that can stand a lot of immaturity and silliness, but that also enjoys a good pop culture satire. I laughed shamelessly throughout most of it, and I definitely recommend it as a movie to rent when you just want to hang out at home with some friends. It's impossible to take seriously, so it's perfect for those times when you just want a good laugh.