Writers: Sean Anders/John Morris
Director: Jim Field Smith
Company: Paramount Pictures
She's Out of My League has a very slow start, with the humor missing and the story taking forever to get started. However, once Kirk and Molly begin to date, it starts to pick up and the movie really gets going. Make no bones about it; although Rated R and a bit raunchy at points, this is your typical romantic comedy and it follows that traditional romantic comedy route. Things are good, then things go sour, past relationships try to thwart the new one, then the chase scene occurs, and fin (sorry for the spoiler alert for over 9,000,000 movies). If you like these kinds of movies, you definitely can jive with this.
The strength of the humor is with TJ Wilson. Fresh off of Cloverfield (which also featured Mike Vogel...reunion alert!), he gets a chance to really stretch his comedic chops and while everyone gets their laughs, he is the true comedic relief of the movie. Baruchel also does a good job playing the mumbling insecure lead, but to be quite honest, it's not really a stretch. Just imagine a less secure version of his Undeclared character and there you go. He may have played a wuss before, but he's a wuss that you can get behind and you get behind him. The trio of friends as a whole have great chemistry and are believable as close friends.
I also admired the story's message itself. Through out She's Out of My League, there are constant references to the fact that Kirk is a "5" and Molly is a "10" and how they cannot possibly work because she's too hot for him and he's too low brow for her. The movie isn't about that though; it's about how if you just believe in yourself and have confidence, you can nab the hot girl you don't feel adequate enough to be with. I agree with this wholeheartedly and believe that it's all in the swagger and not in the physical appeal.Like I said earlier, She's Out of My League is still a very cookie cutter romantic comedy, choosing not to veer off the path its movie brethren have forged before it.Many of the side characters are not fleshed out, especially Molly's best friend Patty (Krysten Ritter), who is just there to be mean and not do much else. Also, Mike Vogel barely gets to do anything of note, getting left in the dust while the other two guy friends get their moment in the sun.
She's Out of My League is a perfectly serviceable comedy and a good date movie. It teaches a good lesson and features some pretty funny moments and good performances (especially from Miller), but it follows the same formula mainstream rom-coms have been using for years so it gets a bit tiresome. As far as mainstream romantic comedies go, this is definitely worth a watch over something like When in Rome or Leap Year or this Friday's The Bounty Hunter.