We have to admit, we had some expectations for this one. We’re fans of Jay Baruchel and chuckled at the early trailers and clips for this. And while the film did look like it might actually live up to its promise, unfortunately it’s yet another Judd Apatow-esque wannabe comedy (though this time, actually featuring an Apatow player) that misses the mark.
The concept for the film is a fairly simple one. Kirk (Baruchel) is a 5. A gangly, awkward and uncoordinated TSA worker who lucks into finding the iPhone that Molly (Alice Eve), a clear 10, accidentally leaves behind after passing through a security checkpoint on her way to a flight. She calls the phone and, so pleased that it’s been found instead of stolen, invites Kirk to a party she’s throwing at the Andy Warhol Museum when she returns home. Kirk goes to the party and manages to spill wine on the museum director, who promptly kicks him out but Molly, charmed by Kirk’s good nature and humor invites him out again, this time to a hockey game. It’s not until Molly’s best friend Patty (Krysten Ritter) tells Kirk outright that Molly is into him, that he puts the pieces together and realizes that he’s dating a girl that is clearly way out of his usual playing field.
While the premise is ripe with comedic potential, writers Sean Anders and John Morris (“Sex Drive,” “Hot Tub Time Machine”) don’t quite seem to know if they’re making an ensemble comedy, a coming-of-age story or a raunchy laff fest. The result is a film that is a mediocre blend of all three and only offers intermittent laughs, most of which have already been seen in the trailers and clips.
The first problem with the film is that it’s simply overstuffed with characters. Kirk has three best friends, a family with a brother whose wife is expecting a child and an ex-girlfriend, Marni, who lives with his parents. As for Molly, she has her previously mentioned best friend Patty, as well as her parents, a sister who’s turning 21 and an ex-boyfriend who wants her back, all while she’s unsure about her recent career shift from lawyer to event planner. None of these characters, aside from the leads, are really sketched out beyond being included to deliver jokes that Anders and Morris have given them. While the film does, eventually, circle around its large themes of self-acceptance and growing up, there are also premature ejaculation and pubic hair maintenance sequences that result in a film that’s tonally unbalanced.
Director Jim Field Smith, making his feature film debut, is not only hampered by the material, but seems to have no idea of rhythmic comedic timing. The film really moves clunkily, without ever building the momentum that films like “The 40 Year Old Virgin” or “Superbad” do. With ‘Virgin’ and “Superbad, Apatow and his stable justify expanded casts by creating characters that feel real and lived in, and comedic situations that grow organically and don’t feel shoehorned in, as if the writers are desperate to stuff in every gag idea or funny line they’ve come up with. Quirks abound as one character plays in a Hall & Oates cover band called Adult Education while another is weirdly obsessed with Disney movies. These don’t feel like natural choices borne out of creating a character, but instead seem like some wacky shit that was made up on the day of filming that they decided to include.
That said, there are some positives we took away from the film. Baruchel aces his leading man turn. He’s frequently quite funny and he really knows how to use his unusual frame to comedic effect. But he also still needs material that’s worthy of his talents, and hopefully this will do well enough that more opportunities will come his way. T.J. Miller, who audiences will probably best know from his debut role in “Cloverfield” is a particular standout as Kirk’s friend Stainer. We had no idea this guy was a comedian by trade, but he is quite good at times here. Meanwhile, Krysten Ritter’s turn as the bitchy Patty, kind of reminded us of Emily Blunt’s role in “The Devil Wears Prada.” She’s an ice queen, but with a flicker of warmth that makes her enjoyable to watch.
“She’s Out Of My League” is certainly watchable, but just meets the bare minimum of expectations one has going into it. You’ve probably already seen the best bits, though there are some other decent laughs sprinkled throughout. It misses a lot of great opportunities to really open up its concept in some brave ways, and settles on an easy resolution and late act chase sequence to reunite the lovers that makes the final third of the film a bit of an endurance test. “She’s Out Of My League” isn’t quite the gutbuster we had hoped for, and while its ambitions aim for the majors, it ends up in the minors. [C+]
