For instance, he's got a good-looking player best friend in Vince Vaughn who's certain that he can help get Mike out of his dating drought. I'm not singling out anyone in particular. Picture Vince Vaughn as a collection of my friends who have no issues with women trying to encourage me. God bless 'em for it. Their daily affirmation means a lot. But I'm sure they get sick of constantly trying to push me forward. It's not far off from this:
Or when we're in the heat of the moment when we're out somewhere, and I'm sweating bullets prior to, during, and after any attempt at a number, they always step in to try and convince me that I got it. Possibly the greatest movie "speech" ever:
That never gets old. Their enthusiasm is appreciated. The next step is screwing it up. Okay, I have never done anything quite this bad. The emotions are similar though. You start pressing a little and then things spiral out of control, like a nuclear reactor melting down. It's like a dating version of The Purge. Total mayhem. The collection of piss-poor dating techniques I've employed have a cumulative effect of feeling like you've just done this:
Granted, that's straight epic failing at its finest. He's trying so hard to think on the fly and put every bit of advice he's received to use in one phone call (or seven). Let's not over think the room here, Mike. It's what we do best though, isn't it? Over analysis is part of my charm.
Towards the end he meets a fly chick at the bar who is none other than Heather Graham. I would argue that this is her hottest roll to date. That's includes her stint as Rollergirl in Boogie Nights. I am biased though. Anyway, he sees her and he goes for it. Despite some initial speed bumps, they hit it off. It looks like there's a future here. He's calm, he's calculated, he's natural. At the very end, he's having lunch with a hungover Trent (Vince Vaughn's character). He convinces his friend that he's finally turned a corner. He's discovered the secret to his dating woes. Just as he's about to spill, Trent railroads his story because he thinks he's being hit-on by some women. Mike never divulges his secret. It's right at the beginning of this clip:
C'mon! I think it means everyone's gotta figure it out for themselves. Good lesson there. You have to figure one day it'll work out. All the ducks will be in row. You learn from your mistakes. Stars align. You grow. You stop saying the wrong things. (Side bar: Constantly talking about your girl problems to girls is not necessarily in your best interest) You're patient. There's a gleam in your eye. Yada yada yada. Ultimately, Mike takes solace in knowing that he's now got it right, and his boy doesn't always have the right answers for him. Perhaps Trent's methods work for him, but Mike needs a different approach. Sounds familiar.
I obviously haven't met my Heather Graham yet. Nor can I swing dance like they do late in the movie. The point is there are a lot of similarities between me and Mike Peters. Not only is this movie funny, touching, and starring Vince Vaughn in an early role, but it mirrors my social life in a lot of ways. That's part of the reason it remains my fave after all this time. Look, maybe you don't care or this blog post is boring to you. Maybe you don't like that I just wrote a movie review last week, and this feels like duplication. But I've basically cut you a trailer if you've never seen this movie. These are awesome clips. So at least you got that.
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