'First Date' Review
NR
Runtime: 1 Hr and 43 Minutes
Production Companies: Visit Films, Cinexus Pictures
Distributor: N/A
Director: Manuel Crosby, Darren Knapp
Writer: Manuel Crosby, Darren Knapp
Cast: Tyson Brown, Shelby Duclos, Jesse Janzen, Nicole Berry, Samuel Ademola
Release Date: N/A
Conned into buying a shady ’65 Chrysler, Mike’s first date with the girl-next-door, Kelsey, implodes as he finds himself targeted by criminals, cops, and a crazy cat lady. A night fueled by desire, bullets, and burning rubber makes any other first date seem like a walk in the park.
First Date's emotional core lies within the budding romance between shy and timid Mike (Tyson Brown) and his confident, strong-willed crush Kelsey (Shelby Duclos). Both actors are likable, charming, and their chemistry is adorable, especially for an R-rated dark comedy. They play off each other very well and you actually buy their romance and mutual attraction to one another. For being newcomers, Brown and Duclos play their roles to the best of their abilities and I hope to see more of their talents in future projects.
Over the past decade, there has been a variety of romantic crime-comedy films in the vein of 2010’s Date Night, where a couple’s night goes off the rails and turns into a full-throttle caper. 2018’s Game Night was the peak of the sub-genre and 2020’s The Lovebirds was the lowest point… until now. First-time feature filmmakers Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp made an even worse Date Night than The Lovebirds by simply not reading the room.
First Date starts in the tune of your average raunchy teen comedy where Mike, a shy, awkward, Black teenager crushes on his headstrong classmate/neighbor, Kelsey. He simps so hard for her that the password to his email is her name. When his unfunny white best friend encourages him to “grow some balls” and ask her out, she ends up being the one who asks Mike out instead. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a car to pick her up in. His parents are leaving for vacation and there’s no extra car for him to use, so his best friend suggests that he buy one from Craigslist. That Craigslist listing leads him to a ’65 Chrysler from a shady ass con dude. Unbeknownst to him, that ’65 Chrysler is the primary target for a lot of dangerous people. Now, Mike must survive a night of crazy hijinks while escaping from white country criminals, crooked cops, and a homicidal Karen. The film is simply a Black boy’s worst nightmare being mined for comedy.
First Date is one of those unfunny dark comedies that annoy me in every regard, not just because of the obvious insensitivity, but for its sense of humor. Outside of Mike and Kelsey, nearly every character is either completely shallow and/or loud. One of my biggest gripes against chaotic comedies full of wacky characters with a dysfunctional script is that they’re usually obnoxious and loud, under the assumption that it’ll make the jokes funnier. In reality, it’s just unbearable and annoying. Even the comedic timing of the most straightforward jokes are way off. The timing is way too fast for any joke to land and the delivery of the jokes lacks any punch or flavor. The jokes aren’t funny and they often come off as either insensitive or awkward (mostly the former).
While it’s intended to be a slow-burn caper, it takes its sweet time establishing all the parties who play into Mike’s crazy night. 45 minutes in, when the film’s plot is already so convoluted, you are introduced to even more wacky antagonistic figures, including five redneck criminals and the gang leader who hired them all. It doesn’t help that the pacing is already meandering with sporadically funny humor.
Though Tyson Brown is charming and has the potential to be a likable talent, his character, Mike, is completely underwritten. He has the makings of late-’00s Michael Cera in comedies such as Youth in Revolt and Superbad. However, Cera’s characters had progressive arcs where he went from being a shy loser to a more confident person. There was potential for Mike’s character to grow, but this movie makes a failure of its lead by throwing him into the most nightmarish scenarios a Black teen could ever face where his life is constantly threatened and he witnesses death all around him, yet he never stands his ground as the film progresses. His personality is so wooden that I stopped caring about him because he just takes shit for no reason.
Given this is Knapp and Crosby’s first film as both writers and filmmakers, they fail to display their own identity. The film’s tone is sloppy; it mixes a raunchy teen comedy with the likes of a Tarantino film, employing a huge gear shift to give it an over-the-top, grotesque shootout of a finale. While I commend it for being well crafted and intense, even outside of the emotional manipulation of the audience hoping this Black kid survives in one piece, its tone still feels wrong. If this movie came out in the ‘90s where everyone was trying to be the next raunchy teen comedy like American Pie or the next crime thriller like Reservoir Dogs, it would’ve been perfect as a product of its time. Unfortunately, First Date bursts through the door in the 21st century, completely outdated on arrival. As it is, this indie romantic comedy is a scattershot dark caper that is unfunny, obnoxious, and unapologetically lacks the awareness to read the room.
