She's Out of My League

Dream Come True

The cynic in anyone when coming across a couple where a hot chick is with an average or below average guy, will suggest that the fabric between them would either be his limousine or sports car, the size of his obscenely fat wallet, or he possesses the skills of a sex god blessed with a giant you-know-what. But if this film is to be believed, the babes are really down to earth people yearning for what everyone wants, genuine love. But you can trust a comedy to take this premise and spin it into quite the laugh-out-loud flick complete with one-liners, crazy characters, with everything fair game to be poked fun at.

Jay Baruchel will likely see his stock rise this year, coming off with providing the voice to what I thought was the best 3D animated film this year in How To Train Your Dragon, before what seemed to be promising in The Sorcerer's Apprentice with Nicolas Cage. His current on screen persona is more aligned to that of a slightly older Michael Cera, launching into self-deprecating mode ever so often with that tinge of whine and self-consciousness that Mr Average doesn't have what it takes to beat the odds. As the TSA airport screener Kirk, his live revolves around talking crap with his airport employee buddies, being bullied at home by everyone save Mom, and has just come off a break up with Marnie (Lindsay Sloane) whom he is trying to woo back.

Enter Alice Eve (Crossing Over, Sex and the City 2) as the hottie Molly, who enters Kirk's life when she left her cellphone at the screening station, and being the alpha aggressive female takes bold steps to get to meet up with Kirk to retrieve her phone, invite him out as a thank-you, and soon finds herself attracted to him because he is the quintessential Mr Safe, compared to the jocks she's been out with. It's Revenge of the Nerds people, if only the Nerd will stop not believing that his luck has turned, and that constantly reminding oneself of how lucky one is, is never cool.

Being there and having done that (being tackled by and tackling a hottie), the film rightly addresses issues of self-esteem that one must maintain or possess in order to sustain a relationship of this nature, and the story by Sean Anders and John Morris takes what is called the hot-o-meter, and with some whiff of a truth in it, compares and takes stock of people's individual indices with one another, using it as a quick gauge to determine if relationships last, from a rather physical perspective. But what's always more important is to dig a lot deeper into the person and get to know him/her inside out, than to look out for flaws with which to wallow some pity in and to obtain some egoistic, proud advantage over. Nobody's perfect, and this film takes quite the while to bring this thought across.

From the laughter perspective, She's Out of My League covers a broad spectrum of sources to elicit mirth, although those averse to F-bombs may want to steer clear of it, since Kirk's family doesn't think twice of letting plenty of it go everywhere. The middle finger also makes plenty of appearances, so uptight folks may want to give this film a miss. What was truly hilarious thankfully got hidden away from the trailer, and it's not since The 40 Year Old Virgin that a scene involving hair removal is done in such a distasteful yet hilarious sequence. Toilet jokes as it seems are popular, and that episode involving semen also gave the one in There's Something About Mary a run for its money.

The supporting cast here such as T.J. Miller (who was also in How To Train Your Dragon), Mike Vogel and Nate Torrence all seemed geared up to give Team Apatow a run for it too, and I wouldn't be surprised if steps are taken to craft that (if they are not already indirectly from that same comedic creative force). Miller who plays Stainer probably got really close to upstaging our male lead with his devil-may-care attitude and brashness, and no thanks to the hurried ending (it seemed as though a large chunk was taken away for the DVD's deleted scenes) we don't get to see more of how he orchestrates the expected ending. As the female lead, Alice Eve doesn't do very much other than to remind you of how hot she can be thanks to her ample assets, and who would have guessed that her real life parents also turn up as the reel ones here too.

This film won't likely join the ranks of classic, memorable comedies anytime soon, but for what it's worth for that instance of much needed comedy, then this film perhaps could be your pick over the bigger budgeted blockbusters that are currently invading the multiplexes.