Film Reviews

She's Out Of My League

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Alice Eve
• Details: US / 104mins / 15A

Marking the lead debut of minor Judd Apatow stalwart Jay Baruchel, and coming from the writers of the brilliant Hot Tub Time Machine, this lively but choppy comedy has some funny moments, but ultimately lacks the abrasive wit of the former to really win over viewers. Baruchel is a charming and engaging lead; while you still mightn't buy his airport security worker bagging Alice Eve's "stone cold 10," you are rooting for him nonetheless.
Baruchel's Kirk meet's Eve's hot, but sensitive, events planner after she forgets her phone whilst passing through security at the airport. Being the nice chap that he is, he hangs on to her phone, then delivers it to a party she's having the next day. Offering him exclusive tickets to a hockey game as a thank you, Kirk is shocked to find out they are actually on a date, and the girl of his dreams is into him. Struggling to comprehend why she'd like him, his friends offer him various titbits of advice - none of which are very helpful.
A film with a definite funny streak and positive core message, She's Out of my League is continually hamstrung by unsure direction, and strangely flat supporting character interaction. Two of the stars of Cloverfield, Mike Vogel and T.J. Miller, pop up as mates of Kirk, with Miller taking inordinate screentime as his obnoxious, jealous best mate. He's obviously meant to be the abrasive asshole friend, designed purely for laughs - ala Louis in 'Hot Tub' - but it doesn't work, and half-assed explanations of his behaviour at the film's climax is too jarring to be believable.
It is funny, though, all be it sporadically. Kirk is immensely likeable, but his friends and even his family, are complete sh*theads. It's then hard to tell if we like Kirk because he's such a nice guy, or because he's surrounded by the aforementioned sh*theads. But Baruchel certainly does his best regardless, and appears to genuinely grow in confidence as the film moves on, having you root for him come the inevitable conclusion. Eve does her best as the ridiculously attractive woman at the centre of it, knocking the American accent out of the park, but has precious little else to really dig into.
Baruchel may very well be a star in the making, with bigger roles surely beckoning, and it is often amusing. It just descends into clichés too often to rank as a home run, but should be a mandatory DVD rental at worst.

Review by Mike Sheridan