CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

My Date With Drew

Director

Jon Gunn

Brian Herzlinger

Brett Winn

Year

2004

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

It seems like forever that I first heard about this documentary. And I know that because the minute I heard about it I knew I wanted to see it. I kind of lost track of it for a while, only to hear it was quietly released in August, 2005. The reason why it didn’t open earlier (it was shot in 2003 and required minimal post-production) is because it couldn’t find a distributor who wanted to take the risk of putting it into theaters. That was truly moronic of them, but what do I know?

Brian Herzlinger has had a crush with Drew Barrymore since they were both children. He even stood next to her in a movie premiere, but completely froze the moment he was going to approach her. After winning $1,100 in a quiz show pilot, and lacking a stable job, he decided to document his quest to get a date with Drew. He had to do that in 30 days, since that’s the period that Circuit City gave customers at the time to return merchandise with no questions asked. So he bought a camera, enlisted the help of two friends, Jon Gunn and Brett Winn, and simply went for it.

There is some question about how much of a documentary this is. When you watch it, it looks and feels like “reality TV”, but that’s unfair. The way that Herzlinger, Gunn and Winn shot and put together the material ended up being a lot more than maybe even they had expected. My Date With Drew is so charming and funny that it owes nothing to much bigger Hollywood productions. Big studios only wish their movies could come up like this more often.

For the movie to work, we have to believe in Brian. After all, isn’t his quest a little bit silly? What good can meeting a big star make? But some people see it differently and he knows it. I, for instance, have a huge crush on Salma Hayek. And I consider myself a sane, intelligent and grounded person. So what’s wrong with that? Nothing really. And Brian has no problem in convincing us. It also helps that he’s charismatic, witty, honest and humorous. Watching this guy trying desperately to make his dream come true is both high-value entertainment and also completely inspirational. The movie suddenly becomes a lot more than just meeting Drew, it’s about a guy’s persistence to get what he wants in life. And by the end we are true believers.

I will definitely not delve into spoiler territory and whether he achieves the date or not. I had a blast watching the movie without knowing much beforehand, and that’s the way it should be. I’m tempted to tell you which Hollywood personalities end up in the movie, or the different ways in which Brian and his pals try to get to Drew, but I won’t. I’ll just say the movie leaves you with a smile after it’s over, because by then you have put your heart into it, and not in vain.

Great work by everyone involved. It was a cool concept from the beginning and ended up as a great doc which works like wonders in what it sets out to do.

Absolutely enjoyable!

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