Rating: B+
Dir: Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
Star: Brian Herzlinger, Jon Gunn, Brett Winn, Drew Barrymore
Brian has been obsessed with Drew Barrymore since he was a kid, and part of her fan-club. When he wins $1,100 on a game-show, with one of the answers being “Drew Barrymore”, he decides to devote the money and thirty days, on getting a date with her. Getting a camera from Circuit City, courtesy of their lax 30-day return policy, he documents proceedings. Sounds like a nice romantic comedy. Except, it’s actually entirely for real. So how does an unemployed but endearing wannabe, trying to make it in LA, get to hang out with one of Hollywood’s biggest stars? Six degrees of separation: people who know people, which is why the film includes a session with Drew’s facialist. He even holds a casting call for a Drew-alike, to go on a test date.
The main key here is Herzlinger: this could easily come over as creepy or stalkerish, but the hero is such a nice guy, and his intentions so clearly honourable, that you intuitively root wholeheartedly for him. There’s also an amazing sequence where they get into the world premiere of Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle – it’s jaw-droppingly simple how they managed it, and I trust security has been tightened significantly since. But the film is really less about Drew, or the date, it’s really about following your dreams: if you never aim for the stars (literally, in this case!), how are you ever going to reach them? Treading the fine line beautifully between heart-warming and nauseating, this will leave you with a spring in your step, and a new-found delight in life. And, in my case, looking for Nastassja Kinski’s home number. 🙂