Alyson Hannigan

Date Movie: Funny but not quite

Movie parodies are among my favorites and while I enjoyed the most recent entry into the genre, Date Movie, it made me long for another classic of Airplane caliber.

Date Movie is the story of a lonely young woman (Alyson Hannigan) who wants to find her Prince Charming. Once she gets “tricked out” by date doctor Hitch (Tony Cox) she finally wins a date with the man of her dreams at, of all places, “A Restraunt.”

The writers take shots at films in a wide range of genres. A Lord of the Rings parody in which Frodo and Sam pawn the ring and assault Gandalf is among the highlights. However, the funniest character in the film is the one that does not talk; Jinxes the cat. Oh yes, Meet the Parents is skewed a lot.

Along with the lowbrow humor from Jinxes, there is also Jennifer Coolidge, who was doing a delightful Barbara Streisand impression throughout. While this is obviously not a truly artistic masterpiece of a film, her performance was dead-on and very funny.

I enjoyed Date Movie, but to be honest, I could have waited for the DVD. There were too many lulls where either I did not get the joke or what was being put out there was just not funny. The cast was too disjointed. Leading man Adam Campbell just did not display the comedic chops that Hannigan did, which really stunted the potential for their scenes together.

By the end of the picture, however, I was still laughing. I’ll give it three panther claws out of four.