Directed by Robert Luketic

?Win a date with Tad Hamilton? is a film that is sure to appeal to its target audience, teenage girls, and the reason for this is the fact that the gorgeous Josh Duhamel (from TV?s Las Vegas) plays the title role. This film is your typical no-brainer movie, little grey matter required to understand it and these are the films that usually appeal to me. It will not offend anybody and it was a pleasant way to spend an hour and a half on a cold wintry night.

Tad Hamilton (Duhamel) is a Hollywood heartthrob who after being caught driving too fast has to prove to everybody that he really is the ?boy next door? and so his manager and agent decide to organise a competition for some lucky girl to ?Win a date with Tad Hamilton? with all the entry fees going to charity.

The lucky young lady is Rosalee Futch (Kate Bosworth), a check out chick at Piggly Wiggly in Frasersbottom (West Virginia) who wins the trip of a life time. Not long after meeting Tad she vomits in his limo but an attraction is soon evident between Rosalee and Tad and she even gets a goodnight kiss and an invitation back to Tad?s place.

Rosalee arrives back home and one of her best friends, Pete (Topher Grace) is about to admit that he has loved her forever when Tad turns up and tells Rosalee he wants a friendship with her so ?her goodness? can rub off on him. Yeah right, what guy travels thousands of kilometres for a friendship.

Of course, it is not long before something more develops between the two and when Tad gets his dream role he tells Rosalee he loves her and asks her to come back to Hollywood with him. On the plane Rosalee learns that Pete has true feelings for her too and now the poor girl must chose between the ?boy next door? and the ?Hollywood heartthrob?. What a dilemma!!!

The film is fairly predictable and the acting is not brilliant, although Nathan Lane and Sean Hayes (who play Tad?s manager and agent, and are both named Richard Levy) do provide some giggles and a touch of class while Gary Cole (aka Mike Brady from The Brady Bunch Movie) also chips in for a few laughs as Rosalee?s Dad, Henry.

The film is just harmless fun overall. It is certainly not Academy Award material but I don?t think it ever intended to be. The storyline is pretty basic after all. So much so, that any teenager could probably write a screenplay of equal quality. There is no foul language or inappropriate behaviour and apart from the odd cigarette, there is no drug use either, so most parents shouldn?t object to their children watching it.

The film didn?t really last all that long at the Australian cinemas and I can see why as it will not blow you away or make you want to watch it over and over. It would probably have gone straight to video/DVD if is wasn?t for the fact that the film actually had some well known actors in it. The success of the television show ?Las Vegas? wouldn?t have hurt its box office sales either.

If you require constant cranial stimulation and a complex storyline with twist after twist then this movie is not for you but it you want a cute film to chill out with then ?Win a Date with Tad Hamilton? just might fit the bill. I actually enjoyed it and my husband stayed awake, which is a good indication that the film is quite pleasant even though many of the jokes were a little corny or fell flat. I only wish that I was the lucky girl and not that Rosalee!! I expect that we may be seeing a lot more of Josh Duhamel in the future. Stay on the look out!

THE EXTRAS

There is Scene Selection (called Good Scenes) and there are 24 scenes to choose from. Other than that the extras appear under the heading ?His Best Features? and include:
? An eight minute ?Gag Reel? which is basically the actors pulling funny faces, stuffing up their lines and giggling. I still don?t feel these bloopers humorous at all.
? Deleted Scenes ? there are 16 different scenes to view (22 minutes in total) including an alternative opening scene, which is quite good and was a little raunchier. There are also two scenes containing Paris Hilton, which have ended up on the cutting room floor. They obviously had a high opinion of her acting prowess. The video quality of the scenes was very good but some of the scenes were quite useless. There were also some extended scenes included as well. Overall, the deleted scenes are probably worth a viewing as they were quite entertaining.
? Photo Gallery ? Very boring, you can scroll through some photos from the movie.

CONCLUSION

?Win a Date with Tad Hamilton? is basically a romantic comedy for teenagers and stars the gorgeous Josh Duhamel as the title character. Many adults will probably find the film enjoyable too as it is harmless fun, no drug use or inappropriate language was evident. The film revolves around a competition to ?win a date? with Tad and the lucky winner is Rosalee Futch (Kate Bosworth) who Tad develops strong feelings for even after she vomits in his limo. Rosalee then has to choose between the Hollywood heartthrob pretending to be the ?boy next door? or Pete (Topher Grace), her best friend and the real ?boy next door?. Decisions, decisions. What is a girl to do?