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 was released on February 17, 2006 by 20th Century Fox and 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. Date Movie was panned by critics and has a 7% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, 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, where she meets and is instantly attracted to Grant Funkyerdoder. Frank barks an order at her and when she turns to respond she accidentally hits Grant over the head with a coffee pot, knocking him to the floor. She turns around, finding his table suddenly empty and figures he ran away. 

Julia seeks help from the love therapist Hitch, who initially rejects her but finally agrees, taking 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, 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. Julia stresses to her that she wants a traditional wedding but Jell-O insists on a restaurant called Taco Butt, which they decline. Jell-O's mood changes, angrily telling them 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. Excitedly, Jell-O reveals that she will also be the wedding entertainment by slamming her desk over with her massive butt and aggressively ripping off her clothes 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 backs up towards them and joyfully smothers them with her butt, getting even for declining her earlier offer.

Grant introduces Julia to his best man, Andy, his ex-fiancée, who seemingly harbors no resentment towards Julia for marrying Grant, even helping Julia shop for her wedding dress. 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 the wedding day Julia arrives late, then witnesses Grant and Andy sharing a kiss (but Julia is unaware that Grant tried to reject her), leaving Julia heartbroken. Unable to forgive Grant, she agrees to marry Nicky. 

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

Julia arrives too late and sees Grant on the streets before she falls off the roof, though Grant conveniently catches her. They get back together and get married, with Hitch officiating and now dating Jell-O. Andy and Nicky meet at the wedding and fall in love. Meanwhile, Grant and Julia leave in a horse and carriage. Roz gifts her 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", so 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
 Barbra Streisand
 Michael Jackson

Production
Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg sold an untilted romantic comedy pitch to Regency 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. It received unfavorable reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 7% based on 90 reviews, with an average rating of 2.9/10. The site's critical consensus states: "In an attempt to parody rom-com clichés, Date Movie ultimately makes a mockery of itself, with juvenile toilet humor and empty pop culture references." The site ranked the film 77th in the 100 worst reviewed films of the 2000s. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 11 based on 18 reviews, indicating "overwhelming dislike". 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.

Kyle Smith of the New York Post stated that the film was a "collection of throwaway gags from other movies, a big blue recycling barrel of comedy waiting for the trash collector." He also joked that the reason why it carried a PG-13 rating was "because 13 is the maximum age of those who might find it funny."

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
 
 
 

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