Product: Date Movie [UMD for PSP] (2006)
Rating: 2.0
Alyson Hannigan finally gets to be the lead in a movie and it is a bad movie
I checked out "Date Movie" because it stars Alyson Hannigan. For years when I touted "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" as the best show on television people told me it must be because I thought Sarah Michelle Gellar was hot. I always said she was okay, but the one I liked was Alyson Hannigan as Willow because she was smart, cute and funny, a rare combination (for example, Tina Fey is on the short list). Her limited success in movies is based on what happened in "American Pie," where she had the funniest two lines, the second of which ("Same my name..."), was an ad-lib. Hannigan has been the female lead in a movie that opened #1 at the box office ("American Wedding"), but while she has found another good television role as Lily on "How I Met Your Mother," her movie career is floundering. Her next gig is voice work for the mocumentary "Farce of the Penguins," which actually might be a step up given her first leading role in "Date Movie."I compare "Date Movie" to "Airplane!", the film that remains the standard by all such kitchen sink comedies need to be judged, and the obvious difference is that with "Airplane!" just knowing the genre is enough to get all of the jokes in the movie. But with "Date Movie," like with the "Scary Movie" franchise, you really need to have seen all of the movies it is parodizing. We start off with Hannigan in a fat suit ("Shallow Hall"), keeping up with her diary ("Bridget Jones's Diary"), standing on a subway grate ("The Seven Year Itch"), working in her family restaurant ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding"), and going to see a matchmaker ("Hitch"). She then meets the man of her dreams on a TV reality show ("The Bachelor"), eat at A Restaurant ("When Harry Met Sally"), and since his last name turns out to be Funkyerdoder the primary template for this movie ends up being "Meet the Fockers." Somehow, making a sequel the template strikes me as a major mistake, even if one of the few times I actually laughed (mom in the urn on the mantle), came in this segment. But if you did not really find a movie that was supposed to be a comedy all that funny, then trying to do a parody of it is just not worth the effort.The movie also works in "My Best Friend's Wedding," "Pretty Woman," "Kill Bill: Volume 1," "Kill Bill: Volume 2," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "American Pie," "Say Anything," "Jerry Maguire," "Notting Hill," "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," "What Women Want," "The Wedding Planner," "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," "Wedding Crashers," "Napoleon Dynamite," "Sleepless in Seattle," "The 40-Year Old Virgin," "Girls Gone Wild," and "King Kong" make it into the mix as well. I think they took on "Grey's Anatomy" as well, but I might be wrong. Consequently, you do not really have a movie that is a comic twist on a romantic comedy, but more something that demands you "Name That Film" for your viewing pleasure rather than actually enjoying the humor. As we all know, the movie was made by two of the six writers of the "Scary Movie" movies, Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, and the nicest thing to say would be that the other four writers can proudly point to NOT having worked on "Date Movie" when they cover their resumes in job interviews. If the amount of time devoted to a joke is an indication of what these two guys think is funny, then the comedic highpoint of their film has to be the cat going to the bathroom. However, I would hope most viewers would not consider that the funniest scene in the film.The fault does not lie with the cast, although the script does not take advantage of Hannigan's comedic talents anywhere near what it should. Tony Cox as mini-Hitch steals most of his scenes and Sophie Monk as Andy milks her scenes for what they are worthy. But Eddie Griffin and Fred Willard as the fathers of the couple are basically treading water and Adam Campbell as Grant Funkyerdoder creates no chemistry whatsoever with our heroine. I was almost tempted to round up on this film because of all of the DVD extras. There are a dozen deleted, extended and alternate scenes (i.e., evidence the film could have been even worse). Andy's poolside extended dailies, audition tapes, and a FOX Movie Channel featurette on "Making a Spoof." You also get three commentary tracks: the first by Seltzer and Friedberg; the second with Hannigan, Campbell, Monk, and Cox; and the third an "Anti-Commentary" by critics Scott Foundas and Bob Strauss. That last one almost tipped the scales, but then there is "The Quickie," which does the entire film in six minutes. The fact that version made it almost tolerable really hit me as adding insult to injury, and when you add optional laugh track you have a tacit admission that the film needs it without the explicit apology for putting us (and Hannigan) through something so lame.