(2006)
1
Derek Armstrong
If Alyson Hannigan is trying to take the parody torch from Anna Faris -- whose Scary Movie 4 promised to be "the fourth and final installment in the trilogy" -- then it's a really bad career move. Date Movie should have little chance of becoming a franchise after this wretched first outing. Despite using only a third of the six screenwriters from the original Scary Movie, Date Movie crams in three times the gross-out jokes. But since this stuff no longer surprises -- and is written with almost hateful witlessness -- it scares up only winces and groans. There's something just plain wrong with this movie, such that viewers will find the words "torturous" and "excruciating" entering their mental vocabulary as they watch. Date Movie gets off on as wrong a foot as possible, with Hannigan in a fat suit, gyrating her jiggling body to the pop song "Milkshake," as various potential suitors gasp in horror at her supposed repulsiveness. Never mind insulting overweight viewers -- this tastelessness assaults the sensibilities of anyone with a modicum of human decency. The only thing the movie can be credited with is finding a reasonable way to squeeze in its spectrum of ripe targets, in this first parody film aimed specifically at chick flicks. But the actual jokes penned by Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg aren't the least bit skillful. It's sad that two members of Christopher Guest's troupe of sublime parodists, Fred Willard and Jennifer Coolidge, have lowered themselves to appear in this abomination, even if their Meet the Fockers riffs on Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand are the "best" parts of the movie. Fortunately, Date Movie inexplicably hit theaters just after February 14th, sparing some couples a truly awful Valentine's Day.
Date Movie on AllMovie
Date Movie (2006)
