No one’s perfect, especially movie critics. So consider this the first of an ongoing series of mea culpas — reviews I wish I could take back.
In 2004 I gave a sunny review to “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton.” Watched it with fresh eyes last night and I can’t believe I got snookered the first time.
‘Date” stars Kate Bosworth as Rosalee, a grocery clerk in West Va. who gets a dream date with Hollywood hunk Tad Hamilton (Josh Duhamel). It’s all part of an image boost for the actor, whose hard-partying lifestyle is starting to affect his box office clout.
But the actor takes a liking to Rosalee, much to the consternation of her fellow grocery worker Pete (Topher Grace, all blinkered expressions and endless stammering). He’s had a crush of Rosalee for years, and just when he’s ready to make his movie a dashing movie star gets in his way.
“Win a Date” feels like it’s set in the 1950s, what with its simplistic attitude toward movie stardom expressed by Rosalee and her galpal Cathy (“Big Love’s” Ginnifer Goodwin). But it takes place in modern day West Va., where inexplicably no one speaks with a southern accent.
Grace is mostly annoying, but when he stops fidgeting he gives the movie some heart. Duhamel is better than the material, and Bosworth’s character is woefully underwritten. Add a few clunky scenes to disrupt whatever mojo “Win a Date” has going for it and you end up with a pretty mediocre “Date.”
(Photo: Topher Grace, left, and Josh Duhamel fight for the wholesome Rosalee – Kate Bosworth – in “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton”)
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