Blind Date

Released Sep 25, 2009

1h 20m

Drama

List

35%

20 Reviews

Tomatometer

34%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Don (Stanley Tucci) and Janna (Patricia Clarkson) have developed a routine: They have their first date, every night. The couple's marriage has been hanging by a thread ever since the death of their daughter. Their solution is to start over as strangers. One of them places a personal ad; they arrange to meet in a nightclub; they talk, as different people. Through these blind dates, Don and Janna hope to recover their sinking relationship and get over their grief.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Prime Video

Stream Now

Prime Video

Watch Blind Date with a subscription on Prime Video.

Critics Consensus

Despite the chemistry of stars Patricia Clarkson and Stanely Tucci, Blind Date's stagey direction and underdeveloped story make it feel more like a rehearsal than a performance.

Read Critics Reviews

Audience Member

Blind Date's dvd has the barest of skeletal design; after a few less than appealing movie previews the dvd title page appears as a series of personal ads enclosing a square frame that shows a scene or scenes from the film. This film is strange, initially appealing, at times offensive, and it reveals the characters of a wife and her husband who have blind dates to try and recover the love of their relationship after their daughter has died. It tends to offensiveness when showing the husband's magic act in his bar in which he finds objects in his pants and in a scene during which he claims to have been sexual with his own mother. The film's structure is like a series of one act plays that revolve around a particular personal ad that they have placed, the narrator who is barely heard from apparently is the daughter. The daughter died in a car accident, her parents surviving it, and the cause of the accident apparently is inattentiveness of the parents while driving. Music is used to good effect to highlight what the story is revealing. Somewhat amusing but also bordering on offensive is a scene in which the husband portrays a blind man meeting his date in which he stumbles around, occasionally gropes his wife and uses his cane to be provocative. A touching moment is when he proposes to her and she refuses him, she coming to tears. A distasteful scene is played out in the bar's washroom with her in the toilet stall smoking. The story apparently ends when they both commit suicide. 3/10.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

eric r

It is a rare occurrence when you are watching a movie and think to yourself "this is one of the worst movies I have ever seen" and then you start thinking "could this be worse than The Ice Storm?" Such was the case here. It was terribly boring. If you think you want to see Blind Date, go see the version with Bruce Willis and Kim Bassinger from the 80's.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I found it too be beautiful story of two suffering souls. It manages to rip your hear out and while it is still beating it stomps on it to quickly kill the pain.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

kevin w

Tucci (as director and actor) and Clarkson endeavor mightily to invigorate this woebegone tale of lost and regret, theatrically done mainly in one locale (a tavern). A married couple pretends not to know one another in order to meet afresh time after time, an effort to jump start their desperately failing marriage, but between the art and artifice you get confused, get lost, and you will too, despite the competent work (always) of the leads.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Wow...some pretty tough critics here! I really enjoyed this one...I thought Tucci got just the right blend of pathos/humour/anger/charm and he hit a really nice rhythm with his direction-you felt like you were in good hands! The 2 leads are outstanding and, despite the overarching absurdism, there's a lot of subtle humanity in their performances...a real masterclass in pace and rhythm. It's important to remember what the point of films like this are and to judge them within their own frames of reference...of course it is stagey and theatrical and mannered...but it never pretends not to be and it works really well within these parameters.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Blind Date runs for under 90 minutes, but it feels much, much longer. Excruciatingly longer, to be precise. Nothing about the film-none of the role play scenarios, not the "beat it over your head" voice over by a child or the finale-rings true. Instead of being concerned with the two main characters, I found myself wondering who the people were populating the small bar...or where the bar was actually located...or why these two weren't seeing a professional counselor. In other words, I was thinking about anything to keep my mind active through each date since the movie is devoid of any oomph. We're not even given a reason to root for these people. There's no intrigue, no depth, no true characterization; everything we "know" about these people is false since they're playing other people. If the purpose is to lull the audience to sleep and test their willpower, Blind Date succeeds. In every other way, it can't help but fail.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Stanley Tucci

Director

Stanley Tucci

Don

Patricia Clarkson

Janna

Georgina Verbaan

Cute Woman

Gerdy De Decker

Tango Dancer

Robin Holzhauer

Little - Girl

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

67%

71%

Revolutionary Road

TRAILER

for Revolutionary Road

20%

33%

Open Window

53%

61%

Tyler Perry's the Family That Preys

82%

62%

Days and Clouds

58%

55%

Interview

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Critics Consensus: Surrogates Is A Passable Thriller

View more photos

Joe Neumaier

New York Daily News

It's about watching two always-fine actors do a lot with very little.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 25, 2009

Full Review

A.O. Scott

New York Times

The film never lifts itself above its origin as a well-meaning, underdeveloped exercise.

Rated: 2.5/5

Sep 25, 2009

Full Review

Lou Lumenick

New York Post

A remake of a film by murdered Dutch director Theo van Gogh, it fails to captivate despite -- or perhaps because of -- the frantic acting efforts of Tucci and the normally reliable Patricia Clarkson.

Rated: 2/4

Sep 25, 2009

Full Review

Ron Wilkinson

Monsters and Critics

Too psychological and "film school" for some but a fine homage to Theo Van Gogh's integrity and courage as a filmmaker and student of the human condition.

Rated: 8/10

Oct 12, 2009

Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality & Practice

A depressing tale of a couple whose relationship is running on empty.

Oct 3, 2009

Full Review

Avi Offer

NYC Movie Guru

Boasts natural, well-nuanced performances by Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, but it's often an awkward blend of romance, drama, comedy and tragedy that eventually becomes tedious and dull while leaving you underwhelmed and unmoved.

Rated: 5.15/10

Sep 26, 2009

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Don (Stanley Tucci) and Janna (Patricia Clarkson) have developed a routine: They have their first date, every night. The couple's marriage has been hanging by a thread ever since the death of their daughter. Their solution is to start over as strangers. One of them places a personal ad; they arrange to meet in a nightclub; they talk, as different people. Through these blind dates, Don and Janna hope to recover their sinking relationship and get over their grief.

Director: Stanley Tucci
Screenwriter: Stanley Tucci, David Schechter
Distributor: Variance Films
Production Co: Column Productions
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 25, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 2, 2016
Runtime: 1h 20m

Most Popular at Home Now