Film Reviews

Date Movie

• Rating:
• Director: Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer.
• Starring: Allyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Eddie Griffin, Sophie Monk.
• Details: US, 83mins, 15A.

Julia Jones (Hannigan) dreams of the perfect man, and when she meets Grant Fonckyerdoder (Campbell) in her father's Greek restaurant, she falls in love. The only problem is Julia is hideously fat, so she goes to Hitch - the man who can make the impossible happen - to get into shape. Looking beautiful, she finally woos Grant but when his ex-girlfriend (Monk) turns up, her plans of marriage disappear - even though her father (Griffin) wants her to marry the bus boy, Ricky. Spoof movies used to spoof serious films: Airplane! spoofed Airport and other disaster movies, The Naked Gun series spoofed film noir, while Hot Shots spoofed Top Gun and Rambo. But when The Date Movie spoofs a comedy (in this case Meet The Fockers, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, etc.), surely the point has been lost and people are running out of ideas fast. With Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood, Not Another Teen Movie and Scary Movie 1, 2 and 3 (with part 4 winging its way over here soon), we're snowed under with this drivel, and when you are reduced to spoofing crap like Meet The Fockers, maybe it's time to call it a day. Like Big Momma's House 2, the old jokes are unhooked from their life support, helped into their wheelchair and pushed around again. Here we get fart jokes, smelly breath and, everyone's favourite, the big knickers joke (if anyone laughed at 'Fonckyerdoder', they'll love this).

Review by Gavin Burke