She's Out of My League

It's unfortunate that the ad campaign for She's Out of My League compares the film to last summer's blockbuster, The Hangover, as aside from the R-rating, the films have absolutely nothing in common. Aside from one or two gross out gags involving bodily fluids and men's lower regions, this is a fairly tame, very likable, and surprisingly sweet-natured romantic comedy. It could have used a few more genuine laughs, but when you compare it to a lot of recent romantic comedies, the fact that I was smiling through most of it is a small miracle.

Writers Sean Anders and John Morris (Sex Drive) take a fairly standard plot loaded with cliches, but add enough charm to the characters that we don't mind seeing it all again. It centers on Kirk (Jay Baruchel), a lonely and awkward guy who works as a TSA security screener at an airport. He's unlucky in love, but his friends and co-workers Stainer (T.J. Miller), Jack (Mike Vogel), and Devon (Nate Torrence) think they know the answer why. Kirk is a "5 out of 10" on a scale of attractiveness, they claim and remind him constantly. We can buy that. Kirk's a nice guy obviously, and we like him, but Baruchel's performance does a good job of making him out to be socially awkward in a comic way. (There's a funny scene where he goes on a restaurant date wearing a suit that looks like the same outfit the wait staff is wearing, so everyone keeps on mistaking him for a waiter, and he's too embarrassed to say anything.) We feel for the guy, though. His family (whom he lives with) doesn't seem to hold much respect for him, and even let his ex-girlfriend (Lindsay Sloane) continue to live in the same house, since she likes it there. The fact that her new boyfriend (who her family likes more than Kirk) lives with them also seems a bit cruel, but funny.

One day on the job, Kirk has an encounter with a woman whom his friends dub a perfect "10". She's Molly (Alice Eve), an attractive and kind event planner who's just out of a bad relationship herself. She's catching a flight to New York, but forgets her iPhone back at security. Kirk finds it, returns it to her, and the two hit it off. Kirk is stunned, his friends are stunned, even Molly's best friend (Krysten Ritter) asks her what she's thinking dating a guy like Kirk. We the audience see the attraction, though. The screenplay and performances by Baruchel (who has been in stuff like Tropic Thunder and Knocked Up) and Eve (a relatively new British actress who I haven't seen in a film before, but is charming here) really help us see how these characters could be attracted to each other. Most of all, it makes us want to see them get together by the end. Believe it or not, this is something I don't feel while watching a lot of romantic comedies. If we don't like the leads, why are we watching? The actors here have chemistry, and are written in such a way that we might recognize people we know or even ourselves in them.

It's probably not a spoiler to say that there's various things that threaten to keep the couple apart. He's constantly doubting himself and comparing himself negatively to other people, while she has an obnoxious ex-boyfriend (Geoff Stults) who keeps on showing up at the wrong time. When he first appeared, I worried that the movie was going to make him out to be a villain character in a movie that doesn't need one. Fortunately, the movie mainly treats him as an annoyance than an actual threat to their relationship, so he doesn't become too involved in the feather-weight plot. The movie is smart to keep its attention focused on the central relationship for most of its running time. The side characters (the best friends of both Kirk and Molly) could have been fleshed out a little more, but offer a sarcastic running commentary on the relationship. I liked how Kirk's friend, Devon, kept on comparing the romance to different Disney couples, like Aladdin and Princess Jasmine, or Beauty and the Beast. Honestly, though, I wanted to see more of Krysten Ritter as Molly's friend. She has a great screen presence, and I can see her as a lead in another movie, but this film doesn't use her enough.

She's Out of My League works as a romance, but could have been a little stronger as a comedy. Oh, there are definitely laughs to be had, but they're not as strong as they could have been. The biggest comic misfires found in the film are a couple of out of place gross-out gags that seem to have been thrown in to get an R-rating. Why the filmmakers found this necessary, I don't know. They're not that funny to begin with, and are a little too tame to stand out amongst some other recent raunchy hit films. We like the characters enough, so we don't want to see them get embarrassed in forced situations, anyway. Aside from this, the film's humor is gentle. It doesn't go for really big laughs, but we smile. This movie will never be remembered as a comedy classic, but it's pleasant and entertaining enough.

Watching the film, I found myself thinking I wouldn't mind seeing the two leads get together in a movie again. For a movie such as this, that's probably the strongest recommendation. This is a film that doesn't want to set the world on fire. It's a sweet, simple story that will work well enough as a Date Movie. My only hope is that the main cast will go onto big things, because there's a lot of talent on display here.

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