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Date Movie is a 2006 American romantic comedy parody film written by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, directed by Seltzer, and produced by Paul Schiff and Friedberg. It stars Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Sophie Monk, Tony Cox, Jennifer Coolidge, Eddie Griffin, and Fred Willard. It is a parody of the romantic comedy film genre, and mostly references My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Meet the Fockers, Hitch, Legally Blonde, and Bridget Jones's Diary.
It was released on February 17, 2006 by 20th Century Fox. Though reviews for it were more positive than Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer's later films, Date Movie was panned by critics, but was a box office success, grossing almost $85 million on a $20 million budget.
At Julia's father Frank's Greek diner, she meets and is instantly attracted to Grant Funkyerdoder. When Frank barks an order at her, she turns to respond and accidentally hits Grant over the head with a coffee pot, knocking him to the floor. She turns around, finds his table suddenly empty, and assumes he ran away.
Julia seeks help from love therapist Hitch, who initially rejects her but finally relents. He takes her to a garage, where she gets "pimped out" and made slimmer. She earns a spot on a reality television dating show called , where the bachelor turns out to be Grant. Host Ty Andrews introduces him, who greets all the women and is asked to eliminate the losers, which he does by shooting them one by one.
As the last woman standing, Julia is rewarded with dinner for two at "A Restaurant". After their meal, Julia and Grant venture to her apartment, where they have sex. Later, Grant takes Julia to Tiffany & Co., where the salespeople reveal that she may pick whatever she wants. He then declares he loves her and proposes, and she happily accepts. The couple then meets with Grant's parents, Bernie and Roz, who recommend a wedding planner, after which Roz reveals that Grant lost his virginity to the housekeeper, Eduardo.
Julia and Grant visit the overzealous wedding planner, Jennifer Lopez, and suggest to her that they would like a traditional, elegant wedding. Jell-O instead insists they pick a fast food restaurant called Taco Butt as their venue, which Julia declines. Annoyed, Jell-O angrily tells them that it's the best she can do on short notice. Grant tries to ease the awkward situation by telling them he has already chosen a best man. Jell-O's mood changes and excitedly reveals that she will also be the wedding entertainment by slamming her desk over with her massive butt and aggressively ripping off her navy blue suit to reveal a gold spandex bra and tights. The couple are shocked as she shows off her provocative dance moves, then scream in fear as she joyfully backs up towards them.
Grant introduces Julia to his best man, Andy, his ex-fiancée. Andy seemingly harbors no resentment towards Julia for marrying Grant, and even helps Julia shop for her wedding dress. However, at the bridal shop, Julia hits her head on a power box and suddenly can read people's thoughts. Reading Andy's mind, she realises Andy wants to get back together with Grant and plans to split them up. The women fight each other, Kill Bill-style.
On her wedding day, Julia arrives late, and witnesses Grant and Andy sharing a kiss, although she is unaware that Grant tried to reject Andy. Heartbroken and unable to forgive Grant, she agrees to marry her father’s choice, Nicky.
Once at the altar with Nicky, Julia is regretting her decision and having flashbacks about her and Grant. Frank objects to the union, realizing he was wrong about Grant, who liked Julia even before the makeover. He persuades her to go after Grant, who is revealed to have waited for her on top of her apartment building for 6 months. Julia hurries to meet him as he is leaving, while shoving aside Andy who was pursuing him too.
Julia arrives too late and falls off the roof, but is conveniently caught by Grant. They reconcile and marry, officiated by Hitch, who is now dating Jell-O. Andy and Nicky meet at the wedding and make out. Meanwhile, Grant and Julia leave in a horse and carriage. Bernie and Roz gifts Julia a vaginal thermometer, which apparently has been in their family for generations and is regarded as good luck when kept unwashed.
On their honeymoon, Grant and Julia go to Skull Island and film a woman, Anne, tied between two poles. After King Kong rips off her dress and gropes her, she says "I like hairy boys", before King Kong flattens her.
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly awarded the film a B− grade, and compared it to fast food, suggesting that if audiences are "hungry for comedy that's salty and loud," this film might be just what audiences are craving. Variety praised Jennifer Coolidge for providing a few bright moments with a spot-on spoof of Barbra Streisand, but was otherwise unimpressed describing the film as "padded and repetitious".
Critic Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club was amazed that a "joke-a-second comedy" failed to contain a single laugh.
Pete Vonder Haar of Film Threat described the film as a contender for the worst of 2006. He walked out of the film after 29 minutes without a single laugh and said he did not feel any guilt about it. He described the laughter of others in the audience as "inexplicable" and wondered if U.S. cinema-going audiences were made up of "deranged howler monkeys".
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