datemovie

With the “Scary Movie” series being such a success, it was bound to happen. Eventually, someone
was going to tear into the soft, vulnerable flesh of that most often horrid of genres, the romantic
comedy. I thank the gods for this astute move. Finally, we can sit down together and pontificate in an
irreverent way about how absolutely awful some of these films are to society. “Date Movie” manages to
pack it in there quite nicely with the following films getting the big hurt put on them by the satirical posse
that brought us “Scary Movie.”

We are treated to jabs at “Shallow Hal,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” “Pretty Woman,” “My Best
Friend’s Wedding,” “What Women Want,” “Meet the Parents” AND “Meet the Fokkers,” “Mr. and Mrs.
Smith,” “Kill Bill,” “How to Lose a Guy In 10 Days,” “Legally Blonde,” “The Wedding Planner,” “Napoleon
Dynamite,” “Wedding Crashers,” “When Harry Met Sally,” “Sleepless In Seattle,” “The Prince and Me,”
“Bridget Jones’ Diary,” “King Kong,” “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith” and “Hitch” and
that’s just the short list.

“Date Movie” stars Alyson Hannigan as the would-be lonely-heart trying to find her man. She starts out
in a fat suit, works at a Greek restaurant, tries to get relationship counseling from a midget named Hitch
and please her half-Greek, half-Indian family...despite the fact that her “Greek” father is Eddie Griffin.
Yep, it’s that kind of movie and it is pretty funny.

The film aspires to the level of “The Naked Gun” and “Airplane!” but it doesn’t come close. Something
happened along the way. Maybe I’ve seen too many of these films or maybe this one just didn’t push
the envelope enough. Whatever it was, the movie just plays out with more mediocre chuckles than gut-
busters, although there are a few really good jokes peppered into the running time, most of them
thanks to Griffin, Tony Cox and the supporting cast.

Aficionados of bathroom humor will thrill to the antics of a few feline characters and for “Scary Movie”
veterans, fear not because Carmen Electra is back with another erotic cameo. What I found most
amazing about this effort was the amount of films packed in that were really in theatres mere months
ago. They must have been rewriting and adding in right up to the last seconds, and that hurts the film
a little bit. The movie takes detours and kills a few jokes, but all of the performers take the material in
stride and it looks like everyone is having fun with the project, and I guess that’s what counts in the end.

A little gross in places, very ridiculous at every turn and probably not one you’re going to watch again.
The dialogue just doesn’t have the witty lash that other spoofs like “Top Secret!” and “Wrongfully
Accused” are able to deliver and we’re left with a few good lines, a funny sight gag here and there and
the rest is take-it-or-leave-it fare. However, a little person clothes-lining a motorcycle driver with a
baseball bat makes this above average, no matter which way you cut the cake.