Hitch.. Finally.
Ok, so I so Hitch last week Wednesday, and I just put off doing the review until now, just cuz I wasn't really motivated to write a puff piece about a puff piece. Kelsey got a free pass from work, so we went to see it, both of us agreeing that it's not a movie we would've have paid to see, even before we saw it. So here's my attempt an unbiased opinion.
Let me make this perfectly clear, to start with:
I HATE ROMANTIC COMEDIES.
So much for the unbiased opinion. I just dislike, in general, the overall attitude they present. Boy meets girl, or vice versa, wackiness ensues, and eventually they make out to the strains of the Goo Goo Dolls or similar Adult Contemporary artist. The studios have a cookie cutter formula with which they can make money, and more power to them, but where is the drama? For example, when I saw How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, at the theater no less, there was a scene near the end where Matthew McConaughey is racing to tell Kate Hudson he loves her, on his bike, and he veers dangerously close to an oncoming bus. I thought to myself, how great would it be if he got hit, and the movie ended. Just to throw the audience off. Now that's be a good romantic comedy!
As for why I saw that movie in the theater, well, I think i was influenced by a certain sexy blonde who wanted to see it. I'm a sucker.
Anyway, Hitch. Granted it was free, and Will Smith is a helluva funny guy, but it is just another product of the studio's RomCom MegaScripter (v. 2.0). Will Smith plays a "date doctor" who counsels insecure men into attaining the loves of their lives. Noble cause, yes? Well, not so says Eva Mendes, who plays the inevitable untouchable woman, also a gossip columnist with a scorned friend who misunderstands any number of things. Basically everybody misunderstands each other, then they lie to each other, then realize they love each other, then make out. I don't need a more detailed plot summary than that.
Like I said before, Will Smith is funny. Scarily enough, this is his first starring role in a straight comedy, not a slash comedy, as in action/comedy or sci-fi/comedy. Hard to believe, isn't it? He really gets the chance to shine here, as the film is really a showcase for his talent as a both a physical comedian and a straight man, in his scenes with Kevin James. In an episodic style that actually kinda works, dozens of Hitch's clients are shuffled through the movie, and we see him work his magic. James, though, is his toughest challenge, as a shlub financial analyst with his heart set on the socialite darling of New York. Will Hitch succeed? Do I care?
With all the movies I own, I have two romantic comedies: High Fidelity and Keeping the Faith. Both do, in ways, fall into the RomCom mold, but High Fidelity features Jack Black's breakthrough performance and stunning rendition of "Let's Get it On". Keeping the Faith is just funny enough to make me like it. Hitch is, unfortunately, not. It falls back on the same grand speeches about love and outrageous mishaps that have turned me off of a whole subgenre of film. Hitch gets a C, and if Will Smith wasn't in it, drop that to an F.
Let me make this perfectly clear, to start with:
I HATE ROMANTIC COMEDIES.
So much for the unbiased opinion. I just dislike, in general, the overall attitude they present. Boy meets girl, or vice versa, wackiness ensues, and eventually they make out to the strains of the Goo Goo Dolls or similar Adult Contemporary artist. The studios have a cookie cutter formula with which they can make money, and more power to them, but where is the drama? For example, when I saw How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, at the theater no less, there was a scene near the end where Matthew McConaughey is racing to tell Kate Hudson he loves her, on his bike, and he veers dangerously close to an oncoming bus. I thought to myself, how great would it be if he got hit, and the movie ended. Just to throw the audience off. Now that's be a good romantic comedy!
As for why I saw that movie in the theater, well, I think i was influenced by a certain sexy blonde who wanted to see it. I'm a sucker.
Anyway, Hitch. Granted it was free, and Will Smith is a helluva funny guy, but it is just another product of the studio's RomCom MegaScripter (v. 2.0). Will Smith plays a "date doctor" who counsels insecure men into attaining the loves of their lives. Noble cause, yes? Well, not so says Eva Mendes, who plays the inevitable untouchable woman, also a gossip columnist with a scorned friend who misunderstands any number of things. Basically everybody misunderstands each other, then they lie to each other, then realize they love each other, then make out. I don't need a more detailed plot summary than that.
Like I said before, Will Smith is funny. Scarily enough, this is his first starring role in a straight comedy, not a slash comedy, as in action/comedy or sci-fi/comedy. Hard to believe, isn't it? He really gets the chance to shine here, as the film is really a showcase for his talent as a both a physical comedian and a straight man, in his scenes with Kevin James. In an episodic style that actually kinda works, dozens of Hitch's clients are shuffled through the movie, and we see him work his magic. James, though, is his toughest challenge, as a shlub financial analyst with his heart set on the socialite darling of New York. Will Hitch succeed? Do I care?
With all the movies I own, I have two romantic comedies: High Fidelity and Keeping the Faith. Both do, in ways, fall into the RomCom mold, but High Fidelity features Jack Black's breakthrough performance and stunning rendition of "Let's Get it On". Keeping the Faith is just funny enough to make me like it. Hitch is, unfortunately, not. It falls back on the same grand speeches about love and outrageous mishaps that have turned me off of a whole subgenre of film. Hitch gets a C, and if Will Smith wasn't in it, drop that to an F.
posted by Brent Jensen at 2:26 AM
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