She's Out of My League Review

Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz on 03.15.2010

It's not the movie you think it is. It's actually quite good. Funny, too.

"She's Out of My League" Review

Jay Baruchel- Kirk
Alice Eve- Molly
T.J. Miller- Stainer
Mike Vogel- Jack
Nate Torrence- Devon
Lindsay Sloane- Marnie
Kyle Bornheimer- Dylan
Jessica St. Clair- Debbie
Krysten Ritter- Patty
Geoff Stults- Cam
Debra Jo Rupp- Mrs. Kettner
Adam LeFevre- Mr. Kettner
Jasika Nicole- Wendy
Yan Xi- Karen

Directed by Jim Field Smith
Screenplay by Sean Anders and John Morris

Distributed by Paramount Pictures

Rated R for language and sexual content
Runtime- 104 minutes

Website: http://www.getyourrating.com/



"She's Out of My League," directed by first time director Jim Field Smith, is not the movie I thought it was going to be. Instead of the non-stop raunch fest that the movie's trailer sort of promised, "She's Out of My League" is a surprisingly sweet comedy about one odd looking young man's quest for self esteem and self confidence. Oh, sure, there's plenty of raunch to be had, most of it spot on hilarious, but you're more likely to walk away from the movie theatre remembering the ups and downs of the main character Kirk (Jay Baruchel) and his seemingly improbably romantic relationship with the uber hot Molly (Alice Eve).

Kirk is a bit of a sad sack. He's stuck in a dead end job at the Pittsburgh airport as a Transportation Safety Administration officer (he works the metal detectors). He spends most of his free time with his three slacker going nowhere buddies (well, two of them are slackers. One is just different. And those friends would be Stainer, as played by T.J. Miller, Jack, as played by Mike Vogel, and the only one in the group with a wife, Devon, as played by the incredibly awesome Nate Torrence). His family life is a series a personal humiliations (his brother Dylan, as played by Kyle Bornheimer, is a belligerent douchebag, as is his girlfriend Debbie, as played by Jessica St. Clair. His father, as played by the immortal Adam LeFevre, is a mean-spirited bastard. And his mother, as played by Kitty Forman herself, Debra Jo Rupp, is just oblivious to everything). And there's the little issue of his ex-girlfriend Marnie (Lindsay Sloane) still hanging around Kirk's family (they want Marnie and her current boyfriend Ron, as played by Hayes MacArthur, to go to Branson, Missouri with them). There's just very little good stuff in Kirk's life.

And then he meets Molly. Molly is the uber hot, uber successful professional party planner that accidentally leaves her I-phone at the airport and asks Kirk (Molly has her best friend and business partner Patty, as played by Krysten Ritter, call the phone to find out what happened to it. Molly left it in one of the trays that you have to put your crap in before you go through the metal detector) to hold onto it and bring it to her when she's back in Pittsburgh. A few days pass and Kirk brings it to a museum where Molly has a party obligation. After some embarrassing hooha involving the museum curator, Molly asks Kirk to a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game. Kirk says yes but doesn't know what to think of the request. Is the game a date? Kirk finds out pretty quickly that it is, in fact, a date, and that Molly is actually really "into" him.

Into him? Kirk? Really?



So Kirk goes on a few dates with Molly, and to a certain extent they hit it off. Kirk's buddies can't understand what it is that Molly sees in Kirk, and Kirk's family is dumbfounded when he brings Molly home for dinner and she isn't a prostitute (well, that's what Dylan can't believe. You get a sense from the others that they, too, are wondering the same thing but choose not to express their thoughts out loud). Kirk, too, despite her continued interest in him, can't understand what Molly's angle is. Why does she keep hanging around him?



"Yeah, what the fuck is going on here?"

And so their relationship keeps going. Kirk makes a series of mistakes (like the bit where he can't shake Molly's father's hand) but she keeps him around anyway. They eventually break up/become estranged after an argument over self confidence and "the point system" (the whole "You're a five and she's a hard ten" thing from the trailer). The last quarter of the movie deals with whether or not Kirk and Molly will get back together (I'm not going to say what specifically happens because that would be a spoiler, but the ending isn't that big of a surprise. It works and it's great, but it's not a big surprise).

One of the things I particularly liked about the way the movie handles the improbable relationship between Kirk and Molly is how Molly's interest in Kirk is never openly questioned by Molly but is instead questioned by everyone else, including Patty. Absolutely no one in the story, besides Molly, thinks that Molly belongs with Kirk (well, Devon thinks they belong together, but he's a sensitive weirdo that doesn't swear, so how can you trust his opinion on anything?). So when Kirk eventually comes around to thinking that he's worthy it comes off as a huge personal revelation for him. And because you like Kirk and identify with him it's a huge revelation for the audience as well, even though you can see it coming a mile away. It also helps that Eve is so sincere as Molly. You never really doubt her intentions even if you don't quite understand them. She makes the off beat chemistry between herself and Baruchel work even though it "shouldn't" work. Just amazing, amazing stuff.

I didn't think Baruchel could pull off this part, mostly because he just doesn't seem like a leading man type, even if the lead character in the movie is supposed to be a geeky scrub. But Baruchel is brilliant as Kirk. You're with him from the beginning. You identify with his plight and root for him to succeed even if you don't quite get how he can succeed.

T.J. Miller is pretty decent as Kirk's buddy Stainer. He's basically playing Ryan Reynolds here but his performance isn't all that grating (you do wish, though, that he'd shut the hell up sometimes, especially when he starts talking about the "point system." Where does he come up with this shit?). His Hall & Oates cover band "Adult Education" is also pretty dang funny. Mike Vogel is pretty okay as Jack (he's kind of bland right up until the point he explains what "manscaping" is). And Nate Torrence is simply brilliant as Devon. He's sweet and sensitive and the only one that backs Kirk up. His two best bits involve the museum visit where a waitress named Wendy (Jasika Nicole) hits on him and he keeps asking Kirk if Molly knows if Wendy said anything about him and the bit where he helps Kirk out in the bathroom (you'll either be incredibly grossed out by it or you'll laugh so hard you'll throw up in your mouth a little. It's one of those kinds of scenes). Just great, great stuff.

Kyle Bornheimer's Dylan is probably the least likeable character in the movie, with his girlfriend Debbie (Jessica St. Clair) a very close second. They are both incredibly disgusting people. You'll laugh at both of them, though, because they clearly deserve each other (Dylan swims in his tighty whitey underwear and he just doesn't know when to shut up). I wish Adam LeFevre had a bigger part as Kirk's father but the few bits we get from him are great stuff (he's an underrated character actor. You've not doubt seen him on "Law & Order" several times). The same goes for Debra Jo Rupp.

Lindsay Sloane's Marnie isn't all that interesting until she meets Molly for the first time. She's so intimidated by Molly that she won't allow anyone to see her in a swimsuit because she just doesn't measure up to Molly. And then Marnie gets jealous and tries to win Kirk back (watch her come out in that slinky dress). What the heck did Kirk see in her in the first place?



And then there's Geoff Stults as Cam, Molly's uber macho jock douchebag professional pilot ex-boyfriend. Stults is simply perfect. He looks the part (you know he's a douchebag because he's wearing one of those collared shirts with the little alligator on it) and he knows how to ooze confident prickness like very few other actors. If they ever make a sequel he could no doubt become a bigger character in the story, the flick's ultimate villain. He's jealous of Kirk and whatever it is that keeps him together with Molly, but he won't come out and say what that is. That's something a sequel could explore (let's call the sequel "She's Marrying Him").

Now, the movie does contain a few disappointments. There's no female nudity (the closest thing we get it seeing Molly in her underwear, which is great and all, but, you know what I mean) and no sex (you'd think there'd be at least one sex scene in here. I'm actually kind of surprised that the Devon character didn't get a sex scene. Why doesn't he get to bang his wife Karen, as played by Yan Xi? Why isn't that an end credits scene or something, sort of a "this is the other side of Devon" kind of thing? I bet it would have gotten a big laugh. Maybe not as big a laugh as the bathroom scene, but a big laugh nonetheless). The movie should probably be about five to seven minutes shorter (comedies, no matter how good, are really pushing it when they go past ninety minutes). But those few disappointments don't derail what is a superb comedy. The movie is fine as is.

You should definitely check out "She's Out of My League." It's a great time at the movies. You'll laugh, and that's what you want to do when you go to see a comedy, right? Laugh?

See "She's Out of My League." See it, see it, see it.

So what do we have here? Gratuitous Jay Baruchel, gratuitous guy that looks and acts like Ryan Reynolds but isn't a total douchebag, a fake background, gratuitous discussion of what a "man poodle" is, gratuitous Tostitos product placement, gratuitous Debra Jo Rupp, gratuitous Adam LeFevre, attacking Chris Tucker, gratuitous Alice Eve, gratuitous douchebags at the airport, a hip and edgy Goth chick, an orange bra, gratuitous discussion of "Beauty and the Beast," gratuitous museum visit, gratuitous hockey scenes, bowling, a gangsta rap ringtone, gratuitous "Wayward Son" by Kansas, an awkward first date, silverware biting, chivalry and decency, gratuitous Geoff Stults, gratuitous Geoff Stults wearing an alligator shirt, a beat up Dodge Neon, an awkward first kiss, gratuitous baggage carousel riding, gratuitous G4, gratuitous douchebag pool party, jealousy, a $50,000 NASCAR wedding, gratuitous basement slapshot hockey contest, a big ass fucking dog, premature ejaculation with messy pants aftermath, lighthearted homophobia, gratuitous date montage, gratuitous manscaping, gratuitous Hall & Oates, an awkward attempted sex scene, gratuitous Alice Eve in her underwear, webbed toes, gratuitous "Branson Bound" sweatshirts, a zany madcap sequence at the airport, a vicious clothesline, and a happy, sweet ending.

Best lines: "It's depressing. It's really depressing," "No one would ever fuck a moodle," "Why didn't you put your fucking balls in here, dude?," "Snatch parade?," "Thanks, Ron," "It's not even a real Pizza Hut! It's a Pizza Hut Express!," "Do you have any piercings you want me to know about?," "Thank you for pissing off your boss for me," "Oh, I'm sorry, are you a plane doctor? No? The shut the fuck up," "Dude, go shit in your hand," "You don't want to go to the moon? Bullshit," "Fuck you, Stainer," Yo, houseball, I was up first," "TSA motherfucker!," "Hey, what's wrong with my Neon?," "Did she say anything about Wendy?," "Oh, we don't flush number ones," "Want to watch the Jap show?," "Underwear would be fine if I were wearing any," "Fuck it, are you seriously not wearing any underwear?," "Hey, Dylan, sportsmanship! Fuck you!," "Hey, did you just cum in your pants?," "I ejaculated in my pants," "Man, you gays smell good," "Honestly, I'd have sex with that guy," "He just moved," "Kirky, we should have done a hot towel," "So how is this not gay?," "Holy Moses," "Kirk, please, your balls are shaved," "Did he just call us a-holes?," "Marnie is an evil bitch. No offense," "It's going to be a long flight, eh, pirate?," "This is so exciting," "What does de plane mean?," and "Have you ever been to San Francisco? Yes. Good, because we're going to Cleveland."

The 411: "She's Out of My League" is a blast, a raunchy yet sweet comedy that actually works. I didn't expect to like it; I didn't think it would be any good, but first time director Jim Field Smith hits it out of the park with a great cast and a fine script. See it, see it, see it. Make it possible for a sequel.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]