Parents' Guide to Date Movie

Movie PG-13 2006 83 minutes
Date Movie Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

By Cynthia Fuchs , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 15+

Gross-out comedy that mocks romantic movies.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 15+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 15+

Based on 5 parent reviews

age 12+

Based on 15 kid reviews

Kids say the film features a mix of crude humor and parody, praised by some as an underrated comedy while criticized by others for its inappropriate content and excessive violence, making it ill-suited for younger viewers. Despite the divided opinions, many found the humor hilarious and deemed it more enjoyable than expected, while others viewed it as a waste of time.

  • crude humor
  • underrated comedy
  • inappropriate content
  • mixed reviews
  • excessive violence
Summarized with AI

What's the Story?

Obese and poor-complexioned, Julia (Alyson Hannigan) laments her dating prospects even as her father (Eddie Griffin) urges her to marry a filthy, stringy-haired local guy (Judah Friedlander). But Julia falls for the gorgeous Grant Fonckyerdoder (Adam Campbell), whom she serves at her father's Greek Diner. In order to win Grant's heart, Julia undergoes a makeover in which she's treated like a car on Xzibit's MTV show, Pimp My Ride. This leaves her svelte and gleamy, Hannigan looking perfectly adorable and sultry at the same time. She heads off for advice from date doctor Hitch (Tony Cox). He sends her to pursue her man, whom she wins over.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 5 ):
Kids say ( 15 ):

Alyson Hannigan deserves better; in fact, we all deserve better than DATE MOVIE, a slow-witted assembly of every date movie joke we've already seen. The film's "comic" strategy is to pile on references to other movies, as if the references themselves are jokes. But reminding viewers of iconic moments from Meet the Fockers, Pretty Woman, The Wedding Planner, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, Wedding Crashers, Napoleon Dynamite, Hitch, and Star Wars, among many, many others, only reminds you why you might have liked the first version, and doesn't excuse or explain the cheap knockoff.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how this kind of humor influences kids and their developing relationship to their sexual lives. They can also ask what would happen in real life if these situations occurred. Since the target group for this movie is young teens who are emerging into their own sexuality, it's important to have a discussion that balances out the movie's humor with respect for the opposite sex and for sex itself.

Movie Details

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