Worth taking a date to

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton

Starring Topher Grace, Josh Duhamel, Kate…

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton

Starring Topher Grace, Josh Duhamel, Kate Bosworth, Ginnifer Goodwin

Directed by Robert Luketic

It’s the ultimate Hollywood fantasy: The chance to hang out with one of the hottest male actors around would probably get most girls excited. Contests like these don’t happen often, and a hundred dollar entrance fee seems like a staggering price to pay for just a name in a drawing. However, the entrance fee doesn’t keep Rosalee Futch (Kate Bosworth) from raising the money and entering to win a chance for a date with one of the most popular actors of his day, Tad Hamilton. Fortunately for her, spending one hundred dollars on the contest is worth it, because she wins. Fortunately for us, Rosalee’s date with Tad Hamilton sets the stage for a humorous and entertaining romantic comedy.

Tad Hamilton (Josh Duhamel) plays wholesome, respectable, sensitive men in his romantic movies. On the front of the tabloids, it’s a different story. This doesn’t prevent Rosalee and her best friend Cathy Feely (Ginnifer Goodwin) from idolizing him and talking about their favorite movie star non-stop, much to the disdain of their other best friend Pete Monash (Topher Grace). After Tad’s agents concoct the contest and Tad has his date with Rosalee, he decides he wants her “goodness” to rub off on him, so he follows her back to her hometown in West Virginia.

The plot is pretty straightforward, with a slight twist on the story for most romantic comedies. What makes “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton” stand out from the others is the charisma of all the young stars on screen. Josh Duhamel plays a convincing Hollywood leading man despite the fact that this is his first feature film role. Kate Bosworth is perfect to play the pretty, sweet, slightly naive girl who’s torn between the movie star and her best guy friend. Topher Grace steals the show whenever he’s on screen. The quiet, sarcastic humor he brings to the film is more humorous than any of the other big, sweeping jokes. After a short while, it’s obvious whom the audience will want to root for.

Not only do the interactions between the characters keep the movie in the funny zone, the silly characterizations of Hollywood life vs. small-town living creates a nice dynamic. Nothing is overdone, and gags are not run into the ground. The plot of the film moves in a natural way. As with any good romantic comedy, there are touching moments and sad moments and moments filled with tension when it’s not clear if the character will do the right thing. Even though it’s apparent that everything will work out in the end, the journey to this neat conclusion is neither boring nor predictable. It’s a very amusing and fun story that’ll definitely keep the attention of those who are a fan of these types of movies, and probably a few that are not.

“Win a Date with Tad Hamilton” takes the common fantasy of a dream date come true and makes it into a film that can be classified as a good time. The actors and the story work well together to make this an entertaining and charming movie. For a lighthearted, feel-good winter romantic comedy this film is a winner.

“Win a Date with Tad Hamilton” opens in theaters Friday.