She's Out of My League (2010)
Directed by Jim Field Smith
When he starts dating drop-dead gorgeous Molly, insecure airport security agent Kirk can't believe it. As his friends and family share their doubts about the relationship lasting, Kirk does everything he can to avoid losing Molly forever.
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There’s sentimental work being done by geeky Jay Baruchel (“Tropic Thunder”) and gorgeous Alice Eve in Jim Field Smith’s “She’s Out of My League.”
This young Canadian actor, part of the scenery in Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder, ascends to stardom as Kirk, a scrawny loser working at an airport, who’s laughed at by his buddies when “perfect 10” Molly (Alice Eve) takes an interest.
As a love story, "She's Out of My League" is slight and underdeveloped, but there is a bit of appeal in the pairing of Alice Eve and Jay Baruchel (2008's " Tropic Thunder ") as Molly and Kirk.
Jay Baruchel, the scarecrow-thin star of Fox’s “Undeclared” and “Tropic Thunder,” scores in his first lead role as Kirk, a guy with chronically low self-esteem who works with his buddies as a TSA employee at Pittsburgh’s airport.
In League, the average guy is Kirk (played by Jay Baruchel , of Tropic Thunder, Knocked Up, and 2010's Sorcerer's Apprentice,) -- an unassuming "6" -- who works in airport security and one day, through a series of only slightly unbelievable events, finds himself meeting and dating the aforementioned perfect girl, Molly -- a "hard 10." Naturally, Kirk can't figure out why Molly is interested, so enter Kirk's knucklehead friends and family who offer no support, ridiculous advice, and eventually beat Kirk's self-confidence to a pulp... so much so that there's nothing left -- for Kirk or for Molly.
The missed opportunities, even in something as low-concept as this, are everywhere, including a chance for Eve — a British actress whose turn in "Starter for 10" made her feel like a young Nicole Kidman — and Baruchel (" Tropic Thunder ") to move beyond caricatures.
In other words, they're about as unlikely a couple as we've seen since, say, Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl in "Knocked Up." Like Rogen, Baruchel is no troll, but he's hardly a heartthrob.
This young Canadian actor, part of the scenery in Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder, ascends to stardom as Kirk, a scrawny loser working at an airport, who’s laughed at by his buddies when “perfect 10” Molly (Alice Eve) takes an interest.
In League, the average guy is Kirk (played by Jay Baruchel , of Tropic Thunder, Knocked Up, and 2010's Sorcerer's Apprentice,) -- an unassuming "6" -- who works in airport security and one day, through a series of only slightly unbelievable events, finds himself meeting and dating the aforementioned perfect girl, Molly -- a "hard 10." Naturally, Kirk can't figure out why Molly is interested, so enter Kirk's knucklehead friends and family who offer no support, ridiculous advice, and eventually beat Kirk's self-confidence to a pulp... so much so that there's nothing left -- for Kirk or for Molly.
Likewise, Jay Baruchel, a standout in Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder, has the charm to navigate his role as Kirk — a 5 — past the implausibility of his high-school-graduate security guard's getting a gorgeous event planner/lawyer out of her underwear (that is, he would have if she'd been wearing any).
Recognizable for his roles in "Knocked Up" and "Tropic Thunder," Canadian-born comedian Jay Baruchel combines humble innocence with a knowing command of comic chops to inspire heartfelt laughs.
Baruchel is probably best known for his supporting turns in Judd Apatow films like Knocked Up (2006), although he made the greatest impression on me as a tragically self-deluded would-be boxer in Million Dollar Baby (2004).
Too bad the lewd, rude, R-rated comedy’s too hellbent on becoming the next “There’s Something About Mary” or Judd Apatow offshoot to realize it’s finest quality is its tender heart.
The heart of the strongest comedies comes from out of real life situations we all can relate to, which is probably why movies like "Meet the Parents" and "There's Something About Mary" have become so hugely popular and why so many movies have tried their best to emulate them.
If you combined Knocked Up with There’s Something About Mary and merged both into the scatterbrained strategies of Sex Drive writers Sean Anders and John Morris, you’d have some idea of how oddly disjointed yet ultimately satisfying She’s Our of My League is.
Your bar conversations become American Pie meets Knocked Up meets There's Something About Mary .
By mixing the sweetness of " Say Anything " with the silliness of " There's Something About Mary ," " She's Out of My League " works as well as it does thanks to a real sense of heart and a killer ensemble.
She's Out of My League is perhaps the funniest film since There's Something About Mary.
But lean in a bit closer and squint a little, and it becomes clear that director Jim Field Smith and writers Sean Anders & John Morris have made a Kevin Smith pastiche, with raunch-mouthed wingman, pop culture references, scatology, and an emotional climax evocative of Chasing Amy.
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At heart a mildly sentimental romantic comedy, it has been pushed hard in the "American Pie" direction with gross-out humor, general crudeness and "hey dude" dialogue.
Beyond that, there's an air of Farrellys at work as it delivers a number of raunchy moments that would easily fit into an "American Pie" movie, and it's far more successful at mixing raunch with romantic moments that would allow frat boys to bring dates without them being completely offended.
Your bar conversations become American Pie meets Knocked Up meets There's Something About Mary .
It’s more American Pie sequel quality.
There are too many times that the film couldn’t seem to decide whether it wanted to be a romantic comedy or a crude successor to American Pie.
Director Jim Field Smith lifts his best beats from Judd Apatow, and his worst from American Pie.
She's Out of My League gives the mathematics of love their biggest workout since Blake Edward's 10, a romantic comedy that succeeded in spite of its unsavoury premise.
Close your eyes and he sounds a little like Christian Slater, circa "Heathers."
The results would be something akin to 1989's lovely "Say Anything" or 2005's adorable, underrated " Fever Pitch ."
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She's Out of My League review, She's Out of My League Blu-ray review Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve, T.J. Miller, Mike Vogel, Nate Torrence, Krysten Ritter, Geoff Stults, Lindsay Sloane Jim Field Smith She's Out of My League Rated R ) T he romantic comedy genre has gone through a pretty big evolution over the last five years, with Judd Apatow almost singlehandedly changing the game with movies like “ The 40-Year-Old Virgin ” and “ Knocked Up .”
Much like Carell in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Baruchel’s character has settled comfortably and somewhat happily into a sexless life of exceedingly modest ambition; only the people around him think he’s a freak.
Many will dismiss "She's Out of My League" as faux Judd Apatow (Faux-patow?), but if that means ex-commercial and TV director Jim Field Smith is trying for the mix of understanding heart and foul mouth that characterize " The 40-Year-Old Virgin " and " Knocked Up ," I'll take that over the maudlin mush of " Valentine's Day " or the hateful and warped woman-hating of " The Ugly Truth ."
Kudos to director Jim Field Smith and cinematographer Jim Denault, incidentally, for giving Pittsburgh a magical sheen throughout; they do for Iron City what (500) Days of Summer did for L.A. She's Out of My League never reaches the heights of, say, The 40-Year-Old Virgin or Role Models, but it's far smarter and funnier than last year's crappy smash hit The Hangover.
The aforementioned friends are all excellent, with T.J. Miller excelling in a role that is all-too-similar to Seth Rogen’s in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
Lindsay Sloane (2008's " Over Her Dead Body ") shows sparks of comic talent as the petty Marnie, who grows jealous only after ex Kirk starts going out with Molly, but she, too, is treated as no more than an exaggerated tool without a genuine bone in her body.