From director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde, Monster-in-Law), I had certainly heard the title, and I knew it might be a soppy romantic comedy chick flick, but I have been known to sit through many of those. Basically in rural West Virginia, young grocery clerk Rosalee Futch (Superman Returns' Kate Bosworth) dreams of one day meeting her movie star idol Tad Hamilton (Josh Duhamel), and she sees a way to make this a reality. She spots a competition where the prize is to go on a date with Hamilton himself, so after raising the $100 entry fee, she is shocked and delighted to be the winner, while her best friend and co-worker Pete Monash (Topher Grace) is irritated. So Rosalee finally comes face to face with Tad Hamilton, who is doing this, with the insistence of his agent Richard Levy the Driven (Nathan Lane), to clean up his fading image and boost his profile, and she is naturally nervous. So the date goes well and she has a nice time, as does Tad, who is somehow smitten with this girl he only got to know for a few hours, and he wants more, so against the wishes of Richard, he moves to West Virginia. Rosalee is of course confused to see this movie star asking her out for another date, and getting close to become a more frequent boyfriend, but she enjoys every minute of it, while Pete, who is secretly in love with her, is extremely jealous. Pete does find it in himself to come out and show his true feelings for Rosalee, but she is confused, doesn't seem to really take it in and is naturally more towards Tad. In the end, Rosalee realises she does indeed have true feelings for Pete, Tad tells her he has been lying and lets her go, and the true loving couple have their happy ending kiss. Also starring Gary Cole as Henry Futch, Ginnifer Goodwin as Cathy Feely, Kathryn Hahn as Angelica, Octavia Spencer as Janine, Sean Hayes as Richard Levy the Shameless, Amy Smart as Nurse Betty and Stephen Tobolowsky as George Ruddy. Bosworth is nice as the beautiful star-eyed fan, Duhamel is alright as the simpleton movie star, and Grace is good as the love sick jealous friend, the film didn't make me laugh a lot, but the story would appeal to anyone who has always wanted to meet their idol, your probably going to get more than you bargained for, and there's that saying that it's different when in the flesh, anyway, a not bad romantic comedy. Worth watching!
Review of Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!
