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# Review ‘Date’ should have been 40 years ago at the drive-in
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/review-date-should-have-been-40-years-ago-at-the-drive-in/
- Published: 2004-01-23T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:39:16.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

The fundamental problem with “Legally Blonde” director Robert Luketic’s latest effort, “Win A Date With Tad Hamilton!” is that the timing of the release is off. By about 40 years or so. Though it convincingly mimics the look and feel of those jejune Doris Day sex comedies, there’s nary a wink, nor a hint of irony that suggests Luketic and screenwriter Victor Levin (“Mad About You”) realize that the 1960s mores and conventions upon which they establish their narrative no longer apply. So we get Kate Bosworth as an impossibly sweet and innocent small-town bumpkin with the insipidly unsubtle bumpkin-y name, Rosalee Futch, who worships a dashing matinee idol named Troy Donahue … er, Tad Hamilton (soap opera star Josh Duhamel). And we also get Topher Grace (“That 70s Show”) as Pete Monash, an invertebrate grocery store manager who’s been pining for Rosalee forever, but hasn’t even been able to screw up the nerve to ask her to the sock hop … er, out to dinner. Did I mention that these characters are supposed to be in their 20s? In 2004?

After the incorrigible playboy Tad gets popped for drunk driving with a floozy, his handlers (Nathan Lane and Sean Hayes playing uninspired agent-stereotypes, both named Richard Levy — perhaps the funniest gag in the movie) decide the only way to clean up Tad’s bad-boy image is to send him on a date with a true blue fan. Of course, one need look no further than Sean Penn and Colin Farrell to know how damaging a bad-boy image can be to an actor’s career … er, nevermind. The point is, Rock Hudson was NOT gay and Tad Hamilton really is dreamy. After their publicity tryst in Hollywood, so smitten is Tad with Rosalee’s aw-shucks freshness that he follows her back to — ready for this? — Fraziers Bottom, West Virginia. This doesn’t sit well at all with Pete, who is hoping beyond hope that Rosalee will protect her “carnal treasure” long enough for him to grow a pair of cojones and make his move, or realize he IS gay (the subtext is undeniably apparent).

Parents might find the time warp element of “Win A Date With Tad Hamilton” to be of some comfort — Luketic was certainly taken by the purity of a simpler era. And the made-for-“Tiger Beat” leads certainly have considerable appeal to the teen audience this film targets. But it’s doubtful that even the most unsophisticated 8-year-old will be able to relate to these characters or the outmoded world they inhabit. Forty years ago, this film would have been a hit. Today, it misses. (Rated PG-13 for sexual content, some drug references and language. Running time: 95 minutes)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/012304-13_01.jpg)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 23, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/012304.pdf?ref=smdp.com)