Nadine in Date Land

This is your average Romantic - Comedy, better writing then most, and the direction is good enough.

What makes this film funnier and better then most romantic - comedies is the talents of the lead Janeane Garofalo. Janeane is one of those actresses and comics you wish you could see more on TV & Film (not in the role of political pundit), but as a leading actress.

Sadly there aren't any roles that will go her way because of superficial reasons, and Hollywood and the audience are missing out.

The film is about Nadine, a date specialist, who has no idea how to date herself. When a former crush, Adam, comes into town, Nadine, has to confront her demons and make Adam fall in love with her. Which is hard to do when you are a girl like Nadine.

If you liked The Truth About Cats & Dogs, and The Matchmaker, you will probably enjoy this film. It is a lot smarter then most romantic - comedies and it doesn't entirely play down to the audience.

The rest of the cast does a fine job. Brad Rowe, the crush, doesn't have much to do as the love interest, but he does try to make his character 3 - dimensional. Which most love interest in other films can never do.

This made-for-TV movie was extremely disappointing. It was a worse-for-wear version of "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" and "Matchmaker;" aged and unappealing.

The plot was cheesy and unrealistic. The acting was lazy at best. The script? - Who wrote this piece, anyway? Amie Steir. Perhaps she should stick to doing shorts. There was very little character chemistry (why, Swoozie Kurtz, why?).

Is anyone else sick and tired of seeing Garofalo as the clumsy unattractive female? 1) She's attractive. 2) It's overdone.

If she's scrambling for a paycheck, fine. OK. But is she? And if so, I find it sad that she would stoop so low.

"Nadine" left me bored; sad for women out there in the dating world. Surprisingly, though I love slapstick and physical gags as a rule, there was absolutely no humor to be found in this movie.

Nadine in Dateland follows the well-worn groove of many a past romantic comedy. It's so typical that you will have no problem predicting what will come next. If the characters weren't so appealing the film would be completely mediocre. However, Janene Garofalo definitely helps the movie out with her goofy loser of a character who can give other people great advice about relationships but fails utterly at them herself.

Brad Rowe as the object of her affections is nothing special but rather charmingly ordinary. Swoosie Kurtz definitely chews scenery as Janene's avaricious mother but actresses of Kurtz's stature chew it with such panache. Finally, I must mention Julie Claire who plays the "scheming other woman". While Claire's performance doesn't break new ground, it is refreshing to see a character with so much self-confidence that she doesn't bother to disguise her malice. Magda(the character) is nasty but she's got such style that you can ALMOST understand why Rowe's character would be attracted to her.

Ultimately, if your expectations aren't too high, you'll enjoy the film. Just don't expect too much.

What on earth is Janeane Garofalo doing in this movie? I thought I could enjoy watching her in just about anything, but this movie proved otherwise. This is bad even by "made for television" standards. The plot is far-fetched at best, the jokes are predictable and not particularly funny -- mostly consisting of torturing the title character with one excruciating incident after another. Tamala Jones was the only good thing about this movie, and even she was pent in by stereotypes at every turn. What a waste of talent all around. I would say that I hope this is this low point in Garofalo's body of work, but I honestly can't imagine what could be worse.

There are many things one can criticize in the script of this movie. The basic sweet stalker premise, the predictable twists and turns, some stock characters and contrived situations. But the movie is sprightly and funny and contains a typically charming performance by Janeane.

The basic idea is actually a typical wacky plot to get the guy, and if it seems creepy it's because of a mix of more knowledge about stalkers than we had when Bringing Up Baby was made and the technology angle that has Garafalo breaking various federal laws for love. Still, the movie is so nicely paced that one isn't given to much time to ponder what sort of person would really do this, and the movie glides by effortlessly on charm and witty banter. It's really good enough to be a theatrical movie, certainly as good and possibly better than The Matchmaker (although not perhaps quite as good as Cats & Dogs), and its a shame its a made-for-basic-cable movie that won't be seen by all the people who would enjoy it.

Recommended.