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My Date with Drew (November 12/05)

That My Date with Drew - which revolves around aspiring filmmaker Brian Herzlinger's efforts to land a date with Drew Barrymore - doesn't come off as self-indulgent and repetitious is a testament to Herzlinger's exceedingly personable and charismatic demeanor. Over the course of the film's 90 minutes, we watch as Herzlinger employs increasingly desperate measures to get in touch with Barrymore - with the end result a film that's occasionally silly but mostly engaging and entertaining.

Herzlinger (along with co-directors Brett Winn and Jon Gunn) afforded himself only 30 days to secure a date with Barrymore, which - not coincidentally - is the same amount of time he has to return the camera he's purchased from Circuit City. After fruitlessly reaching out to various friends for help, Herzlinger decides to take a more direct route by assembling a short teaser outlining his quest and mailing it straight to Barrymore. Other ideas for getting in touch with Barrymore include a trip to the Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle after-party and a slapped-together webpage detailing his efforts.

My Date with Drew features a peppy, poppy sense of style that perfectly matches the film's tone, with Herzlinger's narration fittingly tongue-in-cheek. It's clear early on that Herzlinger's extremely extroverted personality might come off as grating and obnoxious for some viewers, though there's no denying that he's generally a tremendously likeable figure that one can't help but root for. Consequently, there are certain sections of the film that virtually become interactive due to the viewer's close association with the filmmaker - something that's particularly true of the sequence in which Herzlinger crashes the Charlie's Angels party (we're actually nervous for the guy). Likewise, there's a great moment near the end that finds Herzlinger on the receiving end of an important phone call, and - though we can't hear what's being said - we watch as his expression slowly changes from anticipation to sheer delight.

Whether or not Herzlinger actually gets the date with Barrymore isn't revealed until the film's conclusion, although the DVD packaging has seen fit to divulge the answer right on the back cover. At any rate, by the time everything is said and done, it's obvious that the end result of Herzlinger's quest isn't as important as his journey - which is, at times, inspiring and uplifting.

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About the DVD: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment presents My Date with Drew with a letterboxed transfer, along with an extended scene and previews for the feature and Dear Wendy.
© David Nusair