Date Movie is a 2006 American parody film, which was directed and written by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, two of the writers of the first Scary Movie. Much of the story line was based on that of the well-known romantic comedy My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It stars Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Sophie Monk, Eddie Griffin, Fred Willard, Jennifer Coolidge and Mauricio Sanchez.
It was critically lambasted, although it garnered a respectable bow in its opening weekend. The film was released on DVD on May 30, 2006. There is also an unrated version on DVD.
Plot
The movie starts with the main character, Julia Jones (Alyson Hannigan), an obese woman, having a dream about marrying Napoleon Dynamite. It turns into a nightmare when Napoleon turns around and dumps her. Julia wakes up screaming and goes to her diary to write an entry. She thinks she will never find her true love.
Julia goes outside and dances to impress men on the streets. It doesn't, as her obesity gets the best of her - one man even shoots himself in the head with a nail gun when he sees her dancing.
Later on, Julia goes to work at her dad's Greek diner. Her dad, Frank (Eddie Griffin), suggests she gets married. He suggests Nicky (Judah Friedlander), an ugly, greasy, man. She then meets Grant Fockyerdoder (Adam Campbell), with whom she forms an instant attraction. Frank yells at Julia to get an order, she turns to respond and hits Grant over the head with the coffee pot she's holding, thus knocking him to the floor. She turns around only to find his table is suddenly empty and figures he ran away.
Julia realizes she will never find her true love at this rate, and she goes to see a love therapist, Hitch (Tony Cox). At first, Hitch rejects her, but Julia says she is desperate and walks off. Hitch, feeling guilty, invites her in. Julia explains about the guy at the diner and thinks it will be impossible for him to fall in love with her. Hitch takes her to a garage where she gets "pimped out" into a beautiful woman, similar to the Pimp My Ride TV series. She earns a spot on a reality TV dating show called The Extreme Bachelor, the bachelor turning out to be Grant, the man she met in the diner. Grant greets all the women and is asked to eliminate the losing women, which he does by shooting them. Julia is the last woman standing and is rewarded with dinner for two at a restaurant ironically called "A Restaurant". After their meal, Julia and Grant head back to her apartment, where they have sex.
Julia takes Grant to meet her parents, a spoof of Meet the Parents. There is immediate tension between Frank and Grant. Grant goes to the bathroom to see Jinxers, the family cat, defecating loudly and continuously on the toilet. Things get a lot worse when Grant attempts to open a bottle of champagne. The cork hits a vase that contains Frank's mother's remains, and the problems only get worse when Jinxers begins humping the skeleton.
Later, Grant takes Julia to Tiffany & Co., where they turn on the lights to reveal the salespeople ready to let her pick whatever she wants, just like in Sweet Home Alabama. Grant then confesses he loves her and proposes to her. Julia happily says yes. Then, Frodo (Tom Lenk), Gandalf (Tom Fitzpatrick), and the other hobbits from The Lord of the Rings try to pawn off the One Ring, with Gandalf pleading that the Ring could "destroy all evil". Ignoring him, Frodo accepts the offer of $50. The hobbits then turn and beat up Gandalf and run off to "get some wine coolers... and hookers!"
Now it's Grant's turn to take Julia and her family to meet his parents, in a spoof on Meet the Fockers. This meeting doesn't go well either, as Roz (Jennifer Coolidge), Grant's mother, informs everyone that Grant lost his virginity to their gay housekeeper Eduardo (Mauricio Sanchez), similar to the housekeeper in The Birdcage. Frank secretly brings Nicky along, telling Julia she has no choice but to marry him. Julia runs off, devastated. Later, Frank has a one-on-one basketball game with Grant's father, Bernie (Fred Willard). Things get bad when Frank gets a huge taste of Bernie's chest hair (a recreation, not technically parody, of the basketball scene in Along Came Polly).
The next day, Julia and Grant go to a wedding planner named Jell-O (Valery Ortiz), a spoof on the singer Jennifer Lopez and the movie in which she starred, The Wedding Planner, who has a huge butt (a reference to Jennifer Lopez' famous posterior). Jell-O suggests they go to Taco Butt (spoof on Taco Bell) but they want something a little fancier. She is offended and refuses to plan their wedding.
Julia finally gets the chance meet Andy (Sophie Monk), Grant's best man, at the swimming pool. Of course, Julia assumes Andy is a man, but she is really a woman and is a lot more attractive than Julia. The scenes with Andy are a spoof on Pretty Woman with Grant playing Julia Roberts' part. Julia is even more horrified when she finds out that the two were engaged three weeks ago. Andy helps Julia shop for her wedding dress. At the dress store, Julia hits her head on a power box and finds that she can read people's thoughts, a spoof of What Women Want. Julia finds from reading Andy's mind that she still has feelings for Grant and plans to split the two of them up. Julia and Andy fight each other in the style of Kill Bill.
Julia grows depressed, fearing that she'll always be a lonely fat girl. She goes back to Hitch and tells him about Andy. Hitch reckons she doesn't stand a chance against Andy — but if she does, then everything will be fine in the end. There is a small reference to Save the Last Dance.
Julia grows confident again and figures that she just has to make it through the wedding rehearsal at her dad's diner; then, only one day until their wedding. The rehearsal dinner spoofs the big dinner sing-along in My Best Friend's Wedding, including a spoof of "I Say a Little Prayer". There, Andy shows up and accuses Grant of using Julia to get over her, but Grant ignores her.
The big day has arrived, but unfortunately, Julia wakes up with a big pimple on her face. She eventually pops it, blowing her to the back of the room and knocking down a wall, but she is late for her wedding. Meanwhile, Andy finally tells Grant how she feels about him, and that Julia doesn't deserve him. She wants to marry him but Grant steps up and says he wants Julia. Andy ignores him and kisses him. Grant pushes Andy off and sees Julia, who has caught them in the act and runs away.
Days later, Julia goes back to her apartment and is surrounded by balloons, gifts and letters from Grant. She cannot forgive Grant, however, and agrees to marry Nicky. Once at the altar with Nicky, Julia is regretting it and has flashbacks about her and Grant. Frank, realizing that Julia is unhappy, stops the wedding and tells her she doesn't want Nicky. Grant is the one for her (he saw it in her flashback). Frank shows Julia a magazine with a picture of Grant and a message. It says to meet him on the rooftop of her apartment building. After an epic journey - throwing Andy down a stairway, bashing someone on the head with a baseball bat to get their bike - she gets there, only to find she just missed Grant. She leans her hands on the railings, causing it to snap and falls right into Grant's arms. It is very emotional but they get back together and get married, with Hitch officiating. Andy and Nicky meet at the wedding, and fall in love. Meanwhile, Grant and Julia leave in a horse and carriage. Julia also gets a present from her mother-in-law: a vaginal thermometer which apparently has been in their family for generations and is regarded as good luck when it's not washed.
The movie ends with Grant and Julia attending their honeymoon on Kong Island. They see a woman (Carmen Electra) tied up to two pieces of wood. King Kong comes on and rips off her dress leaving her clad in a leopard print bikini. Kong then assumes to feel her up (which she enjoys) and then says to him "I like hairy guys". Kong roars and flattens her like a bug.
Parodies
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding- The restaurant where Julia works.
- Bridget Jones' Diary- Julia wakes up and goes to her diary for write an entry. In the final scene Julia opens her diary that says in book cover "Julia Jones' Diary".
- Hitch- Julia goes to see a love therapist spoofing to this film.
- Pimp my Ride- Julia is pimped out in a garage.
- Star Wars- Julia dresses like Darth Vader in the garage when she's pimped, the face Hitch is like Yoda.
- The Extreme Bachelor.
- Meet the Fockers- Main parody.
- The afro-Brazilian art Capoeira- The Julia's parents asks to Bernie what did he do, he answers "Capoerta".
- The Birdcage.
- Along Came Polly- The basketball scene.
- The Wedding Planner- Jell-O does reference to Jennifer Lopez for her huge butt.
- Taco Bell- Jell-O shows a picture of a restaurant named "Taco Butt".
- Pretty Woman- The scenes with Andy spoofing to Julia Roberts
- What Women Want- Julia says that is as these bad movie of Mel Gibson and begin to read the mind of peoples.
- Kill Bill- Julia dresses as The Bride spoofing Uma Thurman, and Andy has a black eye patch spoofing Daryl Hannah, and begin the scene of flashbacks.
- Save the Last Dance
- The Best Friend's Wedding.
- The song "I Say a Little Prayer"
- How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days- In the title of the magazine says "How to Lose a Girl in 10 Days".
- King Kong- Julia and Grant go to the "Kong Island" to film, and can see Carmen Electra tied up in two pieces of wood, spoofing Ann Darrow.
- Mr and Mrs Smith- Julia and Grant talk with a therapist of their relationship, but talk more of killing each other and their personal lives. In the final scene, the therapist asks them of how many times they have had sex, and Julia replies that they can't answer that question, because the film is rated PG-13, so the sexual content has to be mild.
Cast
Critical reception
Rotten Tomatoes ranked the film 77th in the 100 worst reviewed films of the 2000s, with a rating of 6%.
DVD Release
The film was released on DVD on May 30, 2006 and 1,051,878 units were sold, bringing in $18,777,476 in revenue which accounted to amost the entire budget of the film.[1]
Soundtrack
[2]
- "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
- "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
References
External links
