Alyson Hannigan

How low can you go?

Parody of romantic comedies goes for gags (not humor)

Those sheep jockeys in "Brokeback Mountain" are just about the only romantics who don’t get whipped to shreds in the shameless send-up "Date Movie."

Date Movie

• Cast: Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Jennifer Coolidge, Eddie Griffin.

• Running time: 70 minutes.

• Rating: PG-13; extremely crude humor, language and sexual content. When it comes to romantic comedy these days, there’s screwball and then there’s lowball. Which do you expect from two of the "Scary Movie" writers? Whatever you think, think lower. From human hairballs to corpse abuse, "Date Movie" puts the gag in comedy gags.

In "Date Movie," the parody of movies you’re pretty sure you’ve seen come so fast and furious (no, not that one) that part of the entertainment is merely keeping score. Be it bragging rights or cause for despair, we quickly recognize "Bridget Jones," "Napoleon Dynamite," "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," "Bend It Like Beckham," "Hitch" and a TV episode of "Pimp My Ride" — and that’s just the first 10 minutes.

Still to be splattered with all manner of bodily fluids are dating staples like "Meet the Parents," "The Wedding Planner," "My Best Friend’s Wedding," "When Harry Met Sally" . . . wait, is there a real movie in there somewhere?

Not quite. But enough to hang the sketches on. "Date Movie" works — and it does work — on the philosophy that if you didn’t think the last joke was funny, wait 30 seconds and we’ll find you a movie you were dying to make fun of.

To spoof romantic comedies, "Scary Movie" and "Spy Hard" writers Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer started with the basic romantic-comedy plot. Alyson Hannigan of "band camp" fame in "American Pie" is a fatty named Julia Jones, who blissfully dances down her block and turns "Milkshake" into an earthquake.

At her parents’ Greek restaurant (run by her inexplicably black father, Eddie Griffin), she chances to meet a smashing Brit named Grant Funkyerdoder (Adam Campbell). Of course Julie must transform into a beauty, meet the parents and overcome the hellcat of an ex-girlfriend before the hefty wedding.

Scenes you won’t believe they pulled off — and then again maybe they didn’t — include a man-in-drag version of the famous streetwalking scene from "Pretty Woman," a long overdue comedown for the boom-box scene in "Say Anything" and a dead-on Brad-Angelina take from "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." Are you questioning my taste? Hey, any put-down of "Meet the Fockers" has got to be better than "Meet the Fockers." Any movie that tries to parody "Kill Bill" and "Dodgeball" in the same scene is OK by me. As they say in "Date Movie," how did you know I felt that way? I saw it in your flashback. Parents be warned: If "Date Movie" is PG-13, then Dick Cheney is Sportsman of the Year. "Date Movie" may be R for raucous, but it’s definitely an R.