Release Date: January 23, 2004
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, some drug references and language
Directed by: Robert Luketic
Starring: Kate Bosworth, Josh Duhamel, Topher Grace, Nathan Lane, Sean Hayes, Ginnifer Goodwin, Gary Cole

Plot:
When a hot young actor, Tad Hamilton (Duhamel) agrees to participate in a "win a date" contest to promote his new movie, his world is turned upside-down when he finds himself falling in love with the winner, a grocery store checkout girl from West Virginia named Rosalie (Bosworth). Showing up in her hometown to profess his love, Tad unwittingly inspires Rosalee's longtime best friend (Grace), who works with her as a bagger at the Piggly Wiggly, to also admit his love for her, putting Rosalee in the middle of a very unexpected romantic triangle... who will she pick? The best friend who's always been there for her, or the guy whose face decorates the walls of millions of girls' bedrooms?

Review:
Besides starring in TV shows and starring in the film The Picture of Dorian Gray, this is the first mainstream picture for Josh Duhamel. This film throws all the attention on him as it is about winning a date with Tad Hamilton, the character he plays in the film. Odd it is because in reality he is a very rookie type actor, but in the film he portrays a very widely known celebrity.

Josh Duhamel is a big star in the film that many girls around the world drool over for. The only problem is if the girls could see his acting they would probably be completely turned off by it. Now, films can succeed with average acting, there is no denying that. However, the films problem is not only Josh's poor acting attempts, but the script that can be considered at most mediocre.

Perhaps the problem is writer Victor Levin has hardly any prior experience in writing besides the TV series Mad About You. The script he has provided for this film is dull, predictable and somewhat rehashed. It comes to a point that it is tougher to please audiences with romantic comedies because originality isn't present when it comes to them anymore.

One of the only things this film had that pulled it to be better than just plain awful was Topher Grace who plays Pete. The one or two chuckles this film provides are completely from him. In all honesty, himself and actress Kate Bosworth seem to be the only ones trying of any sort in the film. While Josh as an actor was plain boring and unrealistic, he did provide the right look for the type of guy girls would go crazy over.

During the films running Topher Grace is in love with Rosalee Futch who is played by Kate Bosworth. Kate is somewhat charming in the film, but not as solid as she could have been, acting wise. At times it almost seemed like she gave a tiresome performance. The chemistry between herself and Josh Duhamel was hardly visible and wasn't completely believable.

Other characters in the film are Nathan Lane and Sean Hayes, who play Josh's managers. Sadly to say, they are hardly memorable for the fact that the script didn't provide them with actual comedy. Instead their screentime is plain and does nothing to enhance the film as a whole. The talent was toned down because of the crew.

With acting that is average at most and a script that fails ultimately, Win A Date With Tad Hamilton can't seem to get out of its own trap at anytime. Perhaps if there was anything that we needed to feel sad for the character or become emotionally involved with the film it might have succeeded. The problem is with this film there is hardly any romance occurring and it happens too fast for its own good, with no development.

Everyone comes in to a romantic comedy to receive what its intentions are. That is of course a nice romance between two characters and some laughs when it was right for it. Unfortunately, Win A Date With Tad Hamilton has very few signs of those characteristics. This film should have been taken back to the garage and should have been replaced or worked on more.

It happens to be that Win A Date With Tad Hamilton is the romantic comedy that should be avoided or rented for the curious. It doesn't have many redeeming qualities to it and nothing clearly stands out as impressive. The comedy is not humorous most of the times and the acting didn't set well, completely mediocre. For a cute and funny date film you can do better than Win A Date With Tad Hamilton.