She's Out of my League

"She’s Out Of My League" may sound like a self-help seminar for unattractive, awkward males (that’s what the look from the girl at the ticket counter told me, very judgmentally, I might add), but the film is anything but that. It really is just the story of a guy who got really lucky.

          

 Kirk, played by Jay Baruchel, is a low-level, socially awkward TSA security agent, rated a 5 by his peers, who somehow lands a date with blonde bombshell Molly (Alice Eve). Molly is a 10, and if this were the real world, she wouldn’t give Kirk the time of day. But since Molly seems to like him, he has to try his hardest to not screw it up, which if you’ve seen any romantic comedy since the invention of film, you know that he is going to screw it up, and that it is going to be very funny.

           

Jay Baruchel may be the only problem I have with this movie. I enjoyed him when he made his debut in "Tropic Thunder" as a supporting actor but he isn’t a good leading man (Hollywood disagrees because he has three movies coming out this year alone). He isn’t believable as the lucky guy who gets the hot girl, mostly because he has the body of a ten-year-old child, and because he acts with his arms. If Baruchel needs to show some sort of emotion he does it by flailing his skinny little arms in the air, the way normal people do when they want to really exaggerate a “what in the world are you talking about?” moment. It's like he was trying to make himself look bigger in case any large predators were around. I half expected a hawk to swoop down and carry him off while he squeaked in protest.

            

Thankfully, he is surrounded by a whole host of supporting characters who spend their time rescuing the movie from Baruchel. His three friends take the brunt of the work and although they are all no-name actors, they do a pretty good job. Fans of "That 70’s Show" will be pleased to see Kitty pulling out her trademark grin and high-pitched laughter. Many of the characters are overplayed, much like "Stepbrothers" was, but it actually feels perfect in this film and makes it significantly funnier. Top all that off with a surprisingly charming leading lady and you’ve got a comedy that lifts itself above just mere mediocrity. That, and a scene depicting the “sprucing up” of a man’s “combat” zone for relations of an intimate nature, makes it worth a watch.

Predictability and Jay Baruchel aside, "She’s Out Of My League" isn’t a bad film and is at least worth a matinee.

2 and a half out of 4 stars

-Christopher O’Connell