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Too Many spoofs, not enough story.

Eddie Lancekick | Pacific Northwest | 06/08/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

""Spoof parodies" have branched off from some of the first ones I remember, which included the 1970's movie "Airplane". Although airplane was more of a spoof on airline travel and human nature's dumb side, it was followed by the likes of Police Academy and Naked Gun series, Spy Hard, And not to mention the recently successful runs of "not another teen movie" and "scary movie" which at this point I couldn't tell you if they are in a series together or not.

But that is not important. What is important is, when you do a movie like this, you better have your ducks in a row. The main problems with this movie from the get go? There is way to much "parody" mocking scenes from other movies, so much for the fact that it dilutes any storyline that was supposed to come out of it. You need to have a balance; you need to mix the two without one drowning the other. In most movies like this, there is a storyline that is the focus of attention and the spoofs are added along the way. In the case of "Date Movie", they took every possible scene from Little House on the prairie to meet the Fokkers, and then made a story around it. The result is ultimately futile.

"Date Movie" starts out basically with Alyson Hannigan playing the role of Julia Jones, an overweight waitress who contacts a guy (spoof HITCH) to help her find true love. They take her to a place (spoof MONSTER GARAGE) to be turned into a competitive contestant for a show (The BACHELOR) that could finally set her up with the man of her dreams.

By this time in the movie things are moving way to slow. The spoofs, as said before, become so back-to-back to back that the story itself doesn't really hold. I know I know, its supposed to be a parody, but when the parody rolls over you like a truck on fire over and over, it gets old. Hannigan is a great actress in certain roles but really can't hold her own in this. I don't think its her fault, its the script and directing. The show almost seems more like a documentary on spoofs than a movie. I will say however, it picked up a little after Julie was out of her fat suit, just seeing her face gave us some familiarity in a landscape clogged with below average storylines.

Throughout the movie, Julie runs into obstacles that hinder her marriage to the bachelor (yeah, she won the contest, after of course, the bachelor got rid of the other contestants by blowing them away with a shotgun). Goodness, what movie, TV series, or actor and actress was not covered in our box of spoofs? Just off the top I saw this thing cover Kill Bill, Dodge ball, Hitch, Monster garage, Jennifer Lopez, Wedding crashers, king Kong, Little house on the prairie, Meet the parents, Meet the Fokkers, The wedding planner, Michael Jackson, what women want, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Britney Spears.

I think personally that the "Scary movie" and "not another teen movie" films are much tighter and funnier than "Date movie". Date movie features a few big names like Fred Willard and Eddie Griffin, but ultimately not even their screen presence can save this film. With parody its all about timing, and with the fact that this thing delivers it all on a gray slabbed assembly line that's moving 100mph instead of on silver platters in intervals, I found myself not even laughing during scenes I would have, or really should have, found funny. The movie overall just didn't have any presence or power. Some scenes almost seemed fake as the actors would read their lines but not give even an iota of believability in their character. It drags when it should drive, it falls when it should fly, and it bores when it should entertain.

The only good thing I got out of this movie was the soundtrack.

There were certain scenes I found funny and did laugh out loud or grin, but it was quickly doused by the overall sloppy direction of the films pace. It's not funny enough to me to rent, buy, or even burn. Just call Hitch and ask him to set you up with another DVD to rent, because this thing should quickly fade away into the archives of "failed comedy". Sure, they make fun of J-Lo's [...]by making it twice its size, and there is an appearance at the end that is of course, Owen Wilson from "Wedding Crashers", but as I said before, this really seems to be more of a showcase of "how many things can we mock" instead of having a well crafted movie that is supported, but not taken over by, parody."

Goof

Jabberwocky | Elsewhere, USA | 01/30/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This film is a spoof of a lot of other films in the same tradition as Not Another Teen Movie and Scary Movie. Only those films have redeeming qualities while the entire existence of this film is one big goof.

Eddie Griffin does a pretty good job considering the bad material he was given; but this movie is just ridiculous.

I only chuckled 4 times:
1. One scene involving a Britney and K-Fed spoof.
2. An Eddie Griffin line when he's spoofing Robert DeNiro from Meet the Parents.
3. When the main male character (I don't even care enough to remember or look up their character names) is parodying Brad Pitt from Mr. and Mrs. Smith during the psychiatry session.
4. During the Hitch spoof, the midget guy is pointing to pictures of all of the celebrity couples he's responsible for putting together even though they are no longer together. e.g. Tom and Nicole, Ben and Jen, Brad and Jen, Matt and Ben, Anne and Ellen, etc.

Bottom Line: Pass; unless you want a movie to laugh AT instead of WITH. But you'll probably be more disgusted than anything."

The ads proudly state "From 2 of the 6 writers of Scary Movi

I know more about comedy movies tha | Clemson, SC on 112 Robin Street, 29631 | 04/10/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"The writers of this movie thought that referencing dozens of different movies would make a comedy. No. There has to be jokes, funny jokes. There needs to be something humorously said about the original films to make it a satire. I have seen many of the films this movie "spoofs" including Napoleon Dynamite, When Harry Met Sally, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Hitch, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Wedding Planner, Jerry Maguire, Sleepless in Seattle, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and ALL of them are funnier than Date Movie. It really is pointless to spoof comedies. The writers don't even reference date movies all the time. They reference King Kong, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and it doesn't work. Even the so-so Scary Movie films have something to say about the films they are spoofing. Not only was it terribly unfunny, it was sick. I like Monty Python and American Pie but when a cat starts humping a decayed human torso I draw the line.
The writers of this film also made Epic Movie. I saw Date Movie on DVD. I will not see Epic Movie ever or any other film made by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. It is a sad time in our world and an extremely small part of that sadness is the fact that movies like these are made and make millions at the box office."

There won't be a second date; I can promise you that...

Andrew Ellington | I'm kind of everywhere | 07/06/2010

(1 out of 5 stars)

"In the same vein as the over-populated `Scary Movie' franchise, `Date Movie' throws everything (including the kitchen sink) at the viewer with reckless abandon. Sadly, there is nothing remotely funny about this film (unless you find the overly gross interpretation of Robert De Niro's toilet trained cat halfway hysterical, as I did). Instead of delivering solid comic timing and well thought out laughs, `Date Movie' just tosses everything it can think of at you. Nothing sticks. There is no focus here, no developed plot; nothing but a hodgepodge of very unfunny sequences that don't mesh well at all. This is an incoherent mess."