Date Movie: Is My Milkshake Really Better Than Yours?

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the movies, along comes Date Movie. Written by two of the six writers of Scary Movie, Date Movie promises to spoof the teen to adult romance and dating movies of the past decade, an untapped wealth of material begging to be slapped in the face.

Our story begins with Julia Jones (Alyson Hannigan), a rather rotund young lady, attempting to attract any man she can and lamenting in her condition. Her parents want her to find a man that shares her faith and heritage (good luck) and settle down. Julia just wants to find love. She already knows who she wants, the guy she shared a glance with in her parent's restaurant.

In her pursuit of amore, she enlists the aid of Hitch (Tony Cox) who tries to "fix her up" so that he can fix her up with, well… a man if he can manage it. He comes up with the great idea of getting her on a dating reality show so that she can be noticed. It just so happens that her ideal man, Grant Fonckyerdoder (Adam Campbell) the guy from the restaurant, is the contestant who finds her.

From here, Julia and Grant begin a courtship turning toward marriage. The situation comedy and parodies continue as the couple lives through arranging a wedding, an unhappy father and the complications involved with bringing two families together.

With all of the hype around it this movie has a lot to live up to. It would be harsh to compare Date Movie to a pioneer of this genre like Airplane, but it does have the same campy feeling. Also Date Movie attempts to roll up some of the same type of shock scenes prevalent in its Scary Movie cousins. What it lacks is continuity in the story as it bounces from one comedic reference to another. The writers just tried to put too many parodies in to one film.

What did they parody? What didn't they parody! They hit every obvious dating movies and shows including: Shallow Hal, Hitch, The Wedding Planner, Wedding Crashers, Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, Bridget Jones Diary, The Batchelor, classics like Say Anything and even Gigli. I know I don't have them all, but that's a bunch of them. Shockingly, they also hit a bunch of non-romance references including Monster Garage, Kill Bill and even Star Wars Episode III …OK, I admit there was a romance between Anakin and Padme, but the courtship was really in Episode II. The one they missed, that I was upset about, was Father of the Bride. The fun of watching this film is attempting to catch the references as they whiz bye.

The movie is funny. There are parts that will have you rolling in your seat. You would have had to be comatose for the last decade to not catch something you found funny as the writers abuse your memories the movies you loved. (Yes, I do enjoy chick flicks too) But even guys who had to endure films like Bridget Jones Diary would appreciate a movie that makes fun of it.

I can't say go run and get your ticket for this one. Camp is not for everyone, and some camp just doesn't work. You can humor all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time… thank you Mr. Barnum. What I can say is that there were parts of this movie I really enjoyed, and parts I wished hit the cutting room floor and stayed there. I'm glad I saw the film, but I would have felt cheated in paying for it if I hadn't seen a pre-screening. If camp is your thing, you'll be in heaven, if not, there is always another film.

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