Date Movie

''Date Movie'' is a 2006 American romantic comedy parody film written by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, directed by Seltzer, and produced by Paul Schiff and Friedberg. It stars Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Sophie Monk, Tony Cox, Jennifer Coolidge, Eddie Griffin, and Fred Willard. It is a parody of the romantic comedy film genre, and mostly references ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding,'' ''Meet the Fockers'', '' Hitch'', '' Legally Blonde'', and '' Bridget Jones's Diary''.

It was released on February 17, 2006 by 20th Century Fox. Though reviews for it were more positive than Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer's later films, ''Date Movie'' was panned by critics, but was a box office success, grossing almost $85 million on a $20 million budget.

Plot

Obese Julia Jones dreams of marrying Napoleon Dynamite, but even in her dreams, she is rejected. Writing in her diary, she thinks she will never find her true love. Julia goes outside and dances to impress men on the streets, but is unsuccessful.

At Julia's father Frank's Greek diner, she meets and is instantly attracted to Grant Funkyerdoder. When Frank barks an order at her, she turns to respond and accidentally hits Grant over the head with a coffee pot, knocking him to the floor. She turns around, finds his table suddenly empty, and assumes he ran away.

Julia seeks help from love therapist Hitch, who initially rejects her but finally relents. He takes her to a garage, where she gets " pimped out" and made slimmer. She earns a spot on a reality television dating show called '' The Extreme Bachelor: Desperate Edition'', where the bachelor turns out to be Grant. Host Ty Andrews introduces him, who greets all the women and is asked to eliminate the losers, which he does by shooting them one by one.

As the last woman standing, Julia is rewarded with dinner for two at "A Restaurant". After their meal, Julia and Grant venture to her apartment, where they have sex. Later, Grant takes Julia to Tiffany & Co., where the salespeople reveal that she may pick whatever she wants. He then declares he loves her and proposes, and she happily accepts. The couple then meets with Grant's parents, Bernie and Roz, who recommend a wedding planner, after which Roz reveals that Grant lost his virginity to the housekeeper, Eduardo.

Julia and Grant visit the overzealous wedding planner, Jell-O, and suggest to her that they would like a traditional, elegant wedding. Jell-O instead insists they pick a fast food restaurant called Taco Butt as their venue, which Julia declines. Annoyed, Jell-O angrily tells them that it's the best she can do on short notice. Grant tries to ease the awkward situation by telling them he has already chosen a best man. Jell-O's mood changes and excitedly reveals that she will also be the wedding entertainment by slamming her desk over with her massive butt and aggressively ripping off her navy blue suit to reveal a gold spandex bra and tights. The couple are shocked as she shows off her provocative dance moves, then scream in fear as she joyfully backs up towards them.

Grant introduces Julia to his best man, Andy, his ex-fiancée. Andy seemingly harbors no resentment towards Julia for marrying Grant, and even helps Julia shop for her wedding dress. However, at the bridal shop, Julia hits her head on a power box and suddenly can read people's thoughts. Reading Andy's mind, she realises Andy wants to get back together with Grant and plans to split them up. The women fight each other, '' Kill Bill''-style.

On her wedding day, Julia arrives late, and witnesses Grant and Andy sharing a kiss, although she is unaware that Grant tried to reject Andy. Heartbroken and unable to forgive Grant, she agrees to marry her father’s choice, Nicky.

Once at the altar with Nicky, Julia is regretting her decision and having flashbacks about her and Grant. Frank objects to the union, realizing he was wrong about Grant, who liked Julia even before the makeover. He persuades her to go after Grant, who is revealed to have waited for her on top of her apartment building for 6 months. Julia hurries to meet him as he is leaving, while shoving aside Andy who was pursuing him too.

Julia arrives too late and falls off the roof, but is conveniently caught by Grant. They reconcile and marry, officiated by Hitch, who is now dating Jell-O. Andy and Nicky meet at the wedding and make out. Meanwhile, Grant and Julia leave in a horse and carriage. Bernie and Roz gifts Julia a vaginal thermometer, which apparently has been in their family for generations and is regarded as good luck when kept unwashed.

On their honeymoon, Grant and Julia go to Skull Island and film a woman, Anne, tied between two poles. After King Kong rips off her dress and gropes her, she says "I like hairy boys", before King Kong flattens her.

Cast

Parodies

Films and TV shows

* ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' (2002) (main parody)
* ''Meet the Parents'' (2000) and ''Meet the Fockers'' (2004) (main parody)
* '' Bridget Jones's Diary'' (2001)
* '' Hitch'' (2005)
* '' The Wedding Planner'' (2001)
* '' Kill Bill'' (2003)
* ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003)
* '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005)
* '' When Harry Met Sally...'' (1989)
* '' Along Came Polly'' (2004)
* ''King Kong'' (2005)
* ''Pimp My Ride'' (2004-2006)
* ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' (2005)
* ''Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993)
* '' My Best Friend's Wedding'' (1997)
* ''Bend It Like Beckham'' (2002)
* ''Napoleon Dynamite'' (2004)
* '' Sweet Home Alabama'' (2002)
* ''Pretty Woman'' (1990)
* '' Say Anything...'' (1989)
* '' Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story'' (2004)
* '' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith'' (2005)
* '' The Bachelor'' (2002–present)
* '' What Women Want'' (2000)
* '' How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days'' (2003)
* '' Legally Blonde'' (2001)

Real-life people

* Jennifer Lopez
* Paris Hilton
* Britney Spears
* Kevin Federline
* Barbra Streisand
* Michael Jackson

Production

Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg sold an untitled romantic comedy pitch to Regency Enterprises and became attached to helm it. In June 2005, it was announced Alyson Hannigan and Adam Campbell were to star in the film.

Release

Box office

The film grossed $48,548,426 in the United States and $36,247,230 internationally, adding up to a worldwide gross of $84,795,656.

Critical response

The film did not have advance press screenings. The site ranked the film 77th in the 100 worst reviewed films of the 2000s. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade C+ on scale of A to F.

Owen Gleiberman of ''Entertainment Weekly'' awarded the film a B− grade, and compared it to fast food, suggesting that if audiences are "hungry for comedy that's salty and loud," this film might be just what audiences are craving. ''Variety'' praised Jennifer Coolidge for providing a few bright moments with a spot-on spoof of Barbra Streisand, but was otherwise unimpressed describing the film as "padded and repetitious".

Critic Scott Tobias of ''The A.V. Club'' was amazed that a "joke-a-second comedy" failed to contain a single laugh.

Pete Vonder Haar of ''Film Threat'' described the film as a contender for the worst of 2006. He walked out of the film after 29 minutes without a single laugh and said he did not feel any guilt about it. He described the laughter of others in the audience as "inexplicable" and wondered if U.S. cinema-going audiences were made up of "deranged howler monkeys".

Accolades

Carmen Electra won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her performance in this film and '' Scary Movie 4''. At the 2006 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, Jennifer Coolidge was nominated for Most Annoying Fake Female Accent but lost to Cindy Cheung for '' Lady in the Water''. However, the film won the awards for Worst Screenplay and Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy.

Home media

The film was released on DVD on May 30, 2006 in rated (83 minutes) and unrated (84 minutes) versions and 1,051,878 units were sold, bringing in $18,777,508 in revenue.

Soundtrack

;Track listing
# "Milkshake" – Kelis
# "Party Hard" – The Perceptionists
# "You’re the First, the Last, My Everything" – Barry White
# "Toma" – Pitbull feat. Lil Jon
# "Funhop" – Todd Schietroma
# " Do You Believe in Magic" – The Lovin' Spoonful
# "Too Much Booty (In da Pants)" – Soundmaster T
# "Break it on Down" – Flii Stylz & Tenashus
# " Baby Come Back" – Player (Edit)
# " The Price Is Right (Theme)" – David Kitay
# "Break It Down" – Alana D.
# "Come on Shake" – Classic
# "What Will You Do?" – Sparklemotion
# "Don't Cha" – Pussycat Dolls

See also

* Romantic comedy, the concept being "spoofed" in this film.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Date Movie
2006 films
2000s parody films
2006 romantic comedy films
20th Century Fox films
American parody films
American romantic comedy films
Body image in popular culture
Films about obesity
Films directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
Films scored by David Kitay
Films shot in Los Angeles
Regency Enterprises films
Golden Raspberry Award–winning films
2006 directorial debut films
2000s English-language films
2000s American films
English-language romantic comedy films