Date Movie

This article is about the spoof. For the genre, see romance film.

Date Movie
Promotional poster for Date Movie
Directed by	Aaron Seltzer
Written by	Jason Friedberg Aaron Seltzer
Produced by	Jason Friedberg Jack L. Murray Paul Schiff Aaron Seltzer
Starring	Alyson Hannigan Sophie Monk Adam Campbell Jennifer Coolidge Mauricio Sanchez and Eddie Griffin and Fred Willard
Cinematography	Shawn Maurer
Edited by	Paul Hirsch
Distributed by	20th Century Fox Regency Enterprises
Release dates	February 17, 2006
Running time	83 min.
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$48,546,578 (USA)

Date Movie is a 2006 romantic comedy 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. The film was released on DVD on May 30, 2006. The film was rated PG-13 for continuous crude and sexual humor, including language. There is also an unrated version on DVD. It was critically lambasted as a bomb, although it garnered a respectable bow in its opening weekend.

Plot

The movie starts with the main character, Julia Jones, an obese woman, having a dream about marrying Napoleon Dynamite. It turns into a nightmare when Napoleon turns around and rejects her. Julia wakes up screaming and goes to her diary to write an entry. She thinks she will never find her true love and end up as an old woman with cats only as company.

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.

Later on, Julia goes to work at her dad's Greek diner. Her dad, Frank, suggests she gets married. He likes humus spray and squirts it on her mole. He suggests Nicky, an ugly, greasy, grimey man. She then meets Grant Funkyerdoder. Grant is attracted to her and vice-versa. Julia's dad yells to her 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. 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. She earns a spot on a reality TV dating show and the bachelor is the man she met at the diner, Grant. Grant greets all the women and is handed a shotgun for the elimination round. Grant shoots all the other women, leaving Julia. They win a dinner for two at a restaurant called, "A Restaurant".

The two leave the restaurant and head back to Julia's apartment where they have sex. Julia suggests that Grant meets Julia's parents.

Now we see a big house, similar to the one in Meet The Parents. Grant and Julia are sitting together along with Julia's parents, Frank and Linda. There is tension between Frank and Grant. Grant goes to the bathroom to see Jinxers, the family cat farting continuously on the toilet, similar to the cat in Meet The Parents using the toilet. Things get a lot worse when Grant attempts to open a bottle of champagne and the cork hits a vase that contains Frank's mother's remains, and the problems only get bigger when Jinxers begins humping the skeleton.

Later, Julia and Grant are walking down a street and Grant takes Julia to a jewelry shop. There, Frodo, Sam, and Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings try to pawn off the Ring, with Gandalf pleading that the Ring could "destroy all evil". Ignoring him, Frodo accepts fifty dollars; they then beat up Gandalf and run off to "get some wine coolers... and hookers!". Grant then confesses he loves her and pops the question. Julia happily says yes.

Now it's Grant's turn to take Julia and her family to meet his parents. This spoofs Meet The Fockers, as Grant's father, Bernie, is practicing a strange martial art ("capuerta", in a reference to "capoeira", a Brazilian fight). This meeting doesn't go well either, as Roz, Grant's mother, informs everyone that Grant lost his virginity to their gay housekeeper, Eduardo. Frank secretly brings along Nicky as well and talks to Julia. He says that Nicky has agreed to marry her and she has no choice. Julia runs off, devastated. Later, Frank and Bernie have a one on one basketball game. 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 called Jell-O (spoof on the singer Jennifer Lopez and the movie in which she starred, The Wedding Planner). The wedding planner suggests they go to Taco Butt [or 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, 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. 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 peoples thoughts. She reads Andy's mind and finds out Andy wants to wreck Grant and Julia's wedding and take Grant back. Julia changes into a Kill Bill costume and fights with Andy.

Julia grows depressed and has thoughts that she'll always be the fat woman she used to be. She goes back to Hitch and tells him about Andy. Hitch reckons she doesn't stand a chance against Andy. But if she does stand a chance, then everything will be fine in the end.

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. There, Andy shows up and talks to Grant about how he's using Julia to get over her, but Grant resists and ignores her.

The big day has arrived! But unfortunately, Julia wakes up with a big zit on her face. She eventually pops it,blowing her to the back of the room and knocking down a wall, but 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 drags Andy off and sees Julia, who has caught them in the act. Days later....Julia goes back to her apartment and is surrounded by balloons, gifts and letters from Grant. Julia cannot forgive Grant and agrees to marry Nicky. Once at the alter with Nicky, Julia is regretting it. has flashbacks about her and Grant. Frank, realizing this, 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. The priest is Hitch. Andy and Nicky are attending the wedding. The two kiss and enter a relationship. Meanwhile, Grant and Julia leave in a horse and carriage. Julia also gets a present from her mother: a vaginal thermometer which apparently has been in their family for generations and is regarded as good luck when it's not washed.

An Owen Wilson look-a-like comes on asking if it is too late to crash their wedding.

The movie ends with Grant and Julia attending their honeymoon on Kong Island. They see a woman (Carmen Electra) tied up by two pieces of wood. King Kong comes on and rips off Carmen's dress and she is clad in a leopard print bikini. Kong then assumes to feel her up (which she enjoys quite a lot) and then says to him "I like hairy guys". Kong roars and flattens her like a bug.

Cultural references

• My Big Fat Greek Wedding - Main parody. The plot with Julia in love with a guy outside her religion.
• Napoleon Dynamite - Makes an appearance at the beginning of the film.
• Bridget Jones's Diary - Julia's diary and her gigantic underwear.
• Shallow Hal - Julia's ugly looking appearance.
• Austin Powers - At the beginning when she is running after a bunch of guys and jumps.
• Hitch - Julia's date doctor.
• Pimp My Ride - The scene with turning Julia into a princess through many painful procedures including drilling nails into her stomach and sucking out fat to be sold as mayonnaise. During this scene, Julia's date doctor looks like Pimp My Ride's host Xzibit
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - During the Pimp my Ride parody
• Titanic - Julia & Grant appearance, Julia's red hair look, similar to Rose in the film & Grant blond hair, the style that Jack had in the film.
• Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - The logo for the dating show.
• The Bachelor - The dating show.
• When Harry Met Sally - Grant's fake orgasm, and Julia's response "I'll have what he's having" parody the famous restaurant scene.
• Legally Blonde - Julia's pastry school submission tape.
• Girls Gone Wild - During Julia's pastry school submission tape when she takes off her bra that says "Julia Gone Wild!"
• Planes, Trains & Automobiles - Julia's gigantic underwear.
• Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story - A Ben Stiller look-a-like wearing his costume from the film makes an appearance during the film.
• Meet the Parents - Grant's meeting with Julia's parents, and the cat who uses a toilet, as well as Grant's surname.
• Lord of the Rings - When two Hobbits and a Gandalf characters come to sell a gold ring.
• Meet the Fockers - Julia's meeting with Grant's parents.
• Along Came Polly - The basketball scene with Frank and Bernie.
• The Wedding Planner - Julia and Grant's meeting with their wedding planner.
• Taco Bell - When the wedding planner suggests a place called "Taco Butt" for the wedding reception.
• Carl's Jr. - The scene with Andy in slow motion, using a hamburger to wash a car. This is a spoof on the chain's commercials featuring Paris Hilton, in which she eats hamburgers while washing a car.
• Pretty Woman - The flashback of when Grant and Andy met. Also, during the talk when they get back together: Grants asks "what happens after the prince rescues the princess" and Julia says "she rescues him right back".
• Mr. and Mrs. Smith - Grant and Julia's meeting with the off-screen marriage counselor.
• Best Buy - Julia and Andy visit a shop called "Best Bride".
• What Women Want - The scene with Julia reading minds.
• Kill Bill - The scene with Julia and Andy getting ready to fight. (They only clash swords once which break and so a real fight doesn't ensue.)
• My Best Friend's Wedding - The rehearsal dinner and when Grant and Andy kiss. We could also say that the whole Andy character is based on this movie.
• Runaway Bride - When Julia leaves the wedding after she sees Andy and Grant kissing.
• The Nutty Professor - When Grant gives sweet stuff to Julia to forgive him.
• Say Anything - When Grant is holding the radio above his head to convince Julia to take him back.
• How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days - A six month old magazine has Grant's article called "How to lose a girl in 10 days" and when Grant discovers the toiletries in the bathroom.
• Sleepless in Seattle - When Julia meets Grant at her apartment.
• As Good As It Gets - Same talk as above, Grant says "You make me want to be a better man".
• Jerry Maguire - During Julia's flashback, in the elevator and when Julia says "You had me at hello" a bit after landing in Grant's arms at the end.
• Notting Hill - Grant saying "I am just a girl standing in front of a boy asking him to love her" to Julia at the end.
• The Wedding Crashers - An Owen Wilson look-a-like makes an appearance in the ending.
• King Kong - Julia and Grant's honeymoon, the closure of the film.
• Sweet Home Alabama - When Grant proposed to Julia.
• The Dukes of Hazzard - The RV that Julia's dad drives in one scene has a horn that plays "Dixie"
• Princess Diaries - When Julia lifts up her leg when kissing Grant at the dating show.
• Jennifer Lopez - Jell-O's name is a parody of Jennifer Lopez's nickname, J-Lo.
• The Wedding Planner - Her father talks her in to an arranged marriage and then objects to the marriage at wedding.
• Johnson Family Vacation - When Julia and Hitch arrive at
• Monster In Law - When Andy kisses Grant before the wedding with Julia witnessing
• Fantastic Four - When she gets a zit on her wedding day

Cast

• Alyson Hannigan as Julia Jones
• Adam Campbell as Grant Fockyerdoder
• Sophie Monk as Andy
• Jennifer Coolidge as Roz Fockyerdoder
• Fred Willard as Bernie Fockyerdoder
• Eddie Griffin as Frank Jones
• Tony Cox as Hitch
• Nina Avetisova as Bachelor girl
• Bridget Ann Brno as Bridget Jones
• Carmen Electra as Anne
• Valery Ortiz as Jell-O
• Andrea Kosarew as Deaf Woman
• Tom Fitzpatrick as Gandalf
• Tom Lenk as Frodo
• Judah Friedlander as Nicky
• Gianfranco L'Amore as Native King Kong
• Marie Matiko as Betty
• Josh Meyers as Napoleon and Owen Wilson from Wedding Crashers
• Edward Moss as Michael Jackson
• Mauricio Sanchez as Eduardo
• Meera Simhan as Linda
• Nadia Dina Ariqat as Britney
• Matt Austin as Fireman
• Nick Steele as Kevin Federline Look-A-Like
• Lil Jon as himself
• Beverly Polcyn as Old Cat Woman
• Midajah McCullum as Sales Girl

Critical reception

The film has received a mainly strong negative response from critics, with a 'Rotten' rating of 6% on Rotten Tomatoes[1]

DVD

The DVD has been released on May 30, 2006.

The DVD comes with an English, French, 2 commentaries, a commentary featuring two critics who apparently did not like the film, and a laugh track.

See also

• Romantic comedy film, the concept being "spoofed" in this film.
• Scary Movie
• Epic Movie
• Superhero Movie
• Disaster Movie
• Meet The Spartans

External links

• Interviews with reality stars on Vh1, MTV, and SciFi
• Official site
• Date Movie at IMDb
• Date Movie at Rotten Tomatoes
• Date Movie at Metacritic
• Date Movie at Box Office Mojo
• Template:Ymovies title
• Clips from Date Movie