20 Dates Review
by Chuck Dowling (chuckd21 AT leading DOT net)October 7th, 1999
20 Dates (1999)
NO STARS out of *****
Cast: Myles Berkowitz, Elisabeth Wagner, Richard Arlook, Tia Carrere, Robert McKee, Elie Samaha, Signy Coleman, Stacy Sanches Written and Directed by: Myles Berkowitz
Running Time: 88 minutes
Date Reviewed: August 16, 1999
What you're about to read isn't much of a review. If you're seeking an overall look at the film, read my colleague Brian Matherly's review. Instead, this is going to be more of a rant. You see, I now feel like this is my least favorite film of all time, and that Myles Berkowitz must be destroyed at all costs.
The basis for this film is that after Myles Berkowitz was divorced from his wife, he had the idea to go out on dates and film them for a documentary. The result is 20 Dates... an agonizing experience from frame one. The main reason? Well, it's because Myles Berkowitz is (and readers, please forgive the forthcoming harsh language) an egomaniacal asshole.
This guy (and others like him mind you) are the reason that decent women in this country are so scared of getting too close to a man. He's the reason why normal, decent women stay home on the weekends. He's the reason why decent guys can't find anyone who hasn't been through hell and back as far as relationships go.
For example, one date Myles goes on shows him just berating his date for some decision she made way back in her past regarding a previous boyfriend. He then goes so far as to bring up this decision to shopkeepers and others they meet on their date just so he can prove that she may have made a wrong decision. Another encounter goes awry when he learns that his date is French. At that point he basically says to the audience, "French people are disgusting and annoying, no matter how beautiful they might be, right folks? Yes that's right, you all agree with me. My audience and I agree... if you're French, you suck."
The worst moment though comes on his third or fourth date in the film. He's out with a gorgeous, sweet, funny, intelligent woman. A woman that any man would be lucky to be out on a date with. Everything seems to be going well with the date... she's probably even heard Berkowitz do his charming "I can't eat cheese because it blocks me up" routine and his suave "I can't eat sauce because it gives me diarrhea" shtick and she STILL found him endearing. They're having a grand time, then Berkowitz feels compelled to fill her in on what's really going on. He points out the hidden movie camera and explains the premise for his film. You can literally feel this poor woman's heart breaking as he almost gleefully rubs this information in her face over and over again.
Moments like that infuriated me to the point of wishing bodily harm to this Berkowitz character. In fact, there's a moment late in the film where the jealous boyfriend of one of Myles' dates shows up and threatens violence. This got me on the edge of my seat, anticipating the most satisfying beat down ever on film. Somehow, Berkowitz manages to not only weasel away from the situation, but also to display his asshole tendencies again as he takes this date to the house of ANOTHER girl he's been dating and gleefully tries to screw that up as well.
Much of 20 Dates seems entirely phony though, and I don't believe much of what we see in the film actually happened the way we're seeing it, or even at all for that matter. So here's my problem: either this is a real documentary in which we see Myles Berkowitz behave like the egomaniacal asshole that he is, or it's fictional meaning that Myles Berkowitz is just playing a egomaniacal asshole. If that's the case though, then Berkowitz believes that the audience will actually sympathize with his character therefore making him... you guessed it... a egomaniacal asshole.
If you ever meet Myles Berkowitz, punch him in the stomach for all the single men and women out there, and then punch him again for me. I've said enough. [R]
The Jacksonville Film Journal
URL:http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/
Email:[email protected]
© 1999 of The Jacksonville Film Journal. No reviews may be reprinted without permission.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
