MOVIE REVIEW

Brian Herzlinger took $1,100 and made a documentary about pursuing Drew Barrymore.

By Kevin Crust, Times Staff Writer

No matter how meaningless, scary or banal someone else's dream may seem to you, once you've seen "My Date With Drew," you will be forced to grudgingly, reluctantly admit that the single-minded pursuit and implementation of that dream is still an admirable thing.

More of a video diary with guest stars than a documentary, "My Date With Drew" chronicles regular guy Brian Herzlinger's perversely awkward attempts to land a date with his elementary school crush, Drew Barrymore, whom he had seen in "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" when both were children.

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It plays less creepy on-screen than it sounds, at least in part because Herzlinger is an extremely likable guy and he goes to great lengths to avoid appearing to be a stalker. The film shares similarities with Morgan Spurlock's "Supersize Me" in that its set-up includes a ticking clock of 30 days (the time remaining before Herzlinger has to return the credit card-purchased video camera to Circuit City for a no-hassle refund), a limited budget (the $1,100 Herzlinger won on a game show where the answer was, ta-dum, "Drew Barrymore") and a tone of pure, true-believer salesmanship.

Abetted by co-directors and fellow Ithaca College alums Jon Gunn and Brett Winn along with producer Kerry David, Herzlinger sets out on his quest with the kind of focus usually found in Zen masters or Comicon attendees.

If any of the quartet, who collectively came to be known as the Drew Crew, ever read Nathanael West's "The Day of the Locust," they surely chose to ignore its darker warnings, instead embracing the mantra that Hollywood is a place where dreams come true. But not everyone was in Herzlinger's corner. When told of the idea, his mentor and friend, Bill D'Elia, proclaims, "The dumbing of America is complete," and even Herzlinger's mother refers to Barrymore unfavorably and tells him he should try to date a "real person."

Nothing, however, will deter the crew from their grail. Herzlinger enlists a personal trainer, a facialist (the same one Drew uses) and a psychic, gets a makeover and sneaks into the after-party of the "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" premiere. At one point a Drew look-alike is hired to allow Herzlinger a practice run should he actually land the date. Whether connecting the dots or eliminating the degrees of separation leading to Ms. Barrymore, the filmmakers exhaust each lead resourcefully testing legal boundaries while creating some fairly comic and often touching moments.

Although its reality TV premise begs to be mocked and a deep thought would die of loneliness within its cult-of-celebrity incubator of self-indulgence, "My Date With Drew" defies all reason to emerge as an inspiring, feel-good romantic comedy. It should come as no surprise that the Drew Crew shared a dream of being feature filmmakers — Herzlinger's idol is Steven Spielberg — and there's something satisfying about the pursuit of a pipe dream resulting in the achievement of another, larger goal.

'My Date With Drew'

MPAA rating: PG for mild thematic elements and language

Times guidelines: A dating primer for the celebrity-struck

A DEJ Entertainment release. Directors-producers-editors Brian Herzlinger, Brett Winn, Jon Gunn. Producer Kerry David. Music Stuart Hart, Steven M. Stern. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes. In general release.