08/18/06 My Date With Drew

My Date With Drew (2004), directed by Brian Herzlinger,Jon Gunn & Brett Winn

watched w/ Leslie; DVD (borrowed from Sarah) @ car ride (from Manassas, VA to Franklinton, NC)

Just to clarify, this is not an actual date with my friend Drew (guy) that I have, but rather one man's obsession with one well-known movie star named Drew Barrymore (girl). Let's be honest, who in my age range that was raised on early 1980's films didn't have a crush on angelic Drew in such roles as "E.T." and "Firestarter" only to be in lustful teenage turmoil with her by the seductress role in "Poison Ivy?!" You can't blame this average joe for wanting what most of us did and could never hope to attain...a chance date with the sweet and sensuous bad girl of Hollywood. That fact right there should earn this guy enough to his credit, as he takes on this challenge solely on his infatuation and probably a half-cocked idea after a night of binge drinking with his movie geek buddies. Basically this film acts as a video diary/document of their trials and tribulations of tracking down (at times a level of stalking) Ms. Barrymore to win that date with her in 30 days. We see them through all kinds of half-baked schemes, persistent phone calls to her agents and production teams, maxing out credit cards to "rent" video equipment, crashing "Charlie's Angels" movie premiers with fake ID's (which took some major cojones by the way!), and eventually posting a website to garner interest & support in his ultimate mission. He takes valiant efforts to improve his not-so-suave skills with the ladies; mostly his complete nervousness at being side by side to his idol, in order to play it cool while actually on the date with her. Also, to her credit, Drew plays a touching part in the film. She at first seems like all the other unreachable big time celeb stars in the galaxy, only to have Brian's quest for her presence be a flattering proposal to her...arranging for a meeting for the infamous "date." While the original time frame of 30 days is not met (and there is a very funny montage of the buddies returning the video camera they "bought" at Circuit City back without the glory of accomplishing their feat), the date does still happen...and is a wonderful payoff for the movie geek in all of us. It's a cute idea about a cute chick, one that took some effort to produce...and perhaps got these guys on their own way to stardom. Or not...I heard their next project is called "My Date With Tara Reid" and it is far less classy, with the potential for nip slips.

3 out of 5 stars