Picture this, I know you can, a small town setting with a circle of friends, who appear to have a protective shield from the outside world. They are true small-town folk, who have their own sayings, and work at the Piggly-Wiggly. If you aren't from a small town area, you won't know what this is, but think Safeway on a smaller scale. Then picture those people dealing with something from the main-stream of society. May it be a person, a situation, or even an event, the small-town becomes absorbed with that new link to the "outside-world." This is a formula that we have all seen in the movies before, and the underlying plot is nothing new in this film. Here, we have a superstar actor, who has entered into the lives of the 3 main characters of the film. What happens from there is where we actually stray slightly from the formula, and where my review begins.


The plot of the film, is that a small-town girl ends up winning a date with a famous actor through a contest that was being held by his publicists. The intent on the point of view of the actor, was to get his name out there, and to make people see him in a kinder light. He had been having trouble with the press seeing his playboy life-style of fast driving, and even faster women. Now, he finds himself not finding roles, and in order to get the role he really wants, Tad Hamilton puts himself into a contest to let some lucky lady win a date with him. Of course, the small-town girl is a huge fan of his, and does everything that she can to enter into the contest, and ultimately wins the award of getting to date Tad Hamilton. In real life this would seem like a really cheesy prize to me, but I was willing to give it a try in the film.


Tad Hamilton is played by Josh Duhamel, who many people got to know on the new television show Vegas on NBC. I will admit that I was a fan of the show, but not just because of his acting abilities. Rather, I like James Caan, and I thought he made the show quite watchable. So, as I stated earlier, Hamilton is out to make sure that his reputation can be improved upon through showing a kinder and gentler side in public. This date is done in order to donate money to a charity for children, so it seems from the surface to be a great thing for him to be doing. At first, it seems like only a stunt, but Tad ends up finding more than he bargained for in the girl that wins the contest.


Serving as the main character of the film, Kate Bosworth plays Rosalee Furth, the winner of the contest. She has grown up loving Tad Hamilton, and has made it a point to see all of his movies in the theaters. From a fans point of view, she thinks she knows everything about him, and can think of nothing better than being able to go on a date with him. Her best friend is played by Gennifer Goodwin, and she shares the same crush on Tad that seems to consume every conversation that they have when they go out. The 3rd friend is Pete Monash, who is played by Topher Grace, who made a name for himself as the lead character in That 70's Show on Fox. I actually thought that this would be a stretch for him, but in the end, he really surprised me.


So, we have Rosalee who really wants to date Tad, and then we have Pete, who has kept his crush on Rosalee from nobody but her. Everyone surrounding the two of them knows that he likes her a lot, but he is a shy guy who can never seem to work up the nerve to tell her how he feels. He never puts himself out there, most likely because he really fears the chance that he might be rejected by her. When Rosalee wins the date with Tad, she can think of nothing else, but that situation in front of her. This blinds her to the approaches that Pete is trying to make, and makes for some very comedic parts of the movie. The love triangle becomes even more intense as Tad starts to think that he may want to be with Rosalee, even after their date. This makes for a slightly complex story in which Rosalee will ultimately have to make a choice between two men.


In supporting roles within the film, Nathan Lane and Sean Hayes play great parts as his manager and his Agent. Both appear to also be more interested in what can benefit themselves, and want Tad to take on the role of a lifetime, and will do anything to get him in to that part. Also, in another inspired role,. Kathryn Hahn (from Crossing Jordan to all those die-hard TV watchers) plays a barista who wants nothing more than to date Pete. She is very good at these supporting roles in movies, and I hope that we see in many more to come. The casting director deserves a lot of credit for putting together a cast of unsuspectingly great actors, who play all of their parts in very believable fashion. There were no instances where I thought they were forcing their parts, and I was able to just sit back and enjoy the romantic comedy unfold.


As I started talking about earlier, Topher Grace takes on the role of Pete with quite a level of acting that I had not seen from him before. In the television show that he is on, you don't believe that he could ever be more than the character that you have in front of you. But, in this film, you can see that Pete has something big in front of him, and that all he has to do is let his potential go, and great things could happen for him. All of the main characters of the film mesh well together, and the on screen relationships between all of the characters come off very well. The only thing that this film has working against it, is that we have seen stories with the same underlying themes before. The thing that keeps the audience watching the film, are that the actors/actresses in it are interesting enough to keep our attention. It is because of the acting, that I recommend giving this film a try.


Will she choose the actor or her friend from childhood. You have to see the movie to find that out ;)


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie