I just recently had a friend tell me documentaries are the new romantic comedies. I’m not sure what that means (though I nodded appreciatively) but here is a film that seems to be a bit of both. My Date with Drew is either good or awful depending on how you answer the following question: What was it about?
How do you identify what is good and what is evil? I’m getting philosophical for a second but I think this is a question that needs to be answered to figure out My Date with Drew. I read once that the way to do it was to ask, “If everyone did this thing would the world be better off?” For example, if everyone stole, the world would be a terrible place. Therefore stealing isn’t good. The trickier moral ones are things like pot. If everyone did pot would the world be better off? I don’t know, but I do know sales of Doritos would soar. Anyway, back to the movie so I can tie up this rambling point.
This is a documentary about one man’s quest to get a date with Drew Barrymore (in real life). He’s got 30 days on his quest and eleven hundred dollars. These are the numbers he’s assigned to himself as 1) the most he can not have a job and 2) the amount of money he won on a game show. Brian (played by Brian) starts off his quest the way almost anyone would, trying to find people who know Drew who can help him out. Hilarity occasionally ensues as the clock ticks down on his deadline.
Okay, back to the question of good vs. evil. If My Date with Drew is about a guy trying to get a date with Drew Barrymore it is inherently stupid and self centered. Quite logically, if everyone tried to get a date with a celebrity we’d have a messed up world. The very point of celebrity is that you can’t touch it if you aren’t one. Alternatively, if My Date with Drew is about following your dreams it is probably a good film. To take the logic train again, if everyone followed their dreams we’d be better off, unless of course a ton of people’s dreams involved creating dragons or something.
So why the C- rating? I don’t think it’s clear what My Date with Drew is about. It’s about a date with Drew Barrymore and following your dreams. It’s also kind of clear that even though Brian has a tough time procuring a date with Drew he’s got a hell of a lot better chance than us. He lives in L.A. His friends know friends of Drew. He knows who to call, he’s been in the same room with Drew Barrymore already. So it’s not such a stretch for him to try this stunt. Now, I’d like to see a movie about someone from Bangladesh get a date with Drew, which would be a struggle, a quest. Brian just seems a little bit like a stalker with a heart of gold.
In the end it was a little too much sugary sweet stalkerdom for my liking. I did walk out of the theater smirking because the film is cute but in no way will it resonate with the viewing public. It’s a wacky self centered stunt that doesn’t mean too much. We all know what it’s like to yearn, to want something that seems impossible, but I hope that most people have better dreams than a glass of vino with Drew Barrymore. As one of the participants said early on, “When I was twenty-seven my dream was world peace.”
