Tom Reviews "She's Out of My League"

Tom's Corner:

She's Out of My League
(2010, Jim Field Smith, director)

There's a type of girl who only exists, at least to my admittedly limited experience, in TV, movies and books. You've all seen her, you all know about her. She's incredibly attractive, and in fact possesses an almost otherworldly quality. She's also naive as all hell and doesn't comprehend the effect she has on men, especially those of the less than conventionally attractive variety. She's also either dating or has recently broken up with a complete asshole, who is as or nearly attractive, but has no real personality. If they're still dating, she, of course, does not even begin to realize the levels of his asshole-ishness. Once she finally does, our geeky unpopular male specimen becomes the obvious best choice. We call this magical, legendary female creature the plot goddess, since the plot paints her as the most attractive woman ever born.

“She's Out of My League” contains a prototypical plot goddess, this time around played by Alice Eve. She plays Molly, who has apparently descended from the heavens to fraternize with us mere mortals. Molly leaves her iPhone behind at airport security and meets Kirk (Jay Baruchel, a man who makes Michael Cera look buff and confident), a TSA agent with dreams of flight and less self esteem than a roomful of stereotypical goth teenagers. They end up going out, and despite all the odds, she likes him. Of course, something MUST be wrong here, since there is no way a “10” would go out with a “5.” I just love this retarded premise. Beauty is only skin deep, and if you scratch deep enough under the surface, sometimes you find a whole lotta ugly. When two people make an emotional connection, looks really don't matter too much. This is known as the grow up speech, and rightly so, since this movie needs to at points.

That being said, the actors involved do the best with what they were given. Krysten Ritter (Jane Margolis on AMC's Breaking Bad) plays Molly's best friend, who needed more screen time. She's a brilliant actress, and I see nothing but good things in her future. TJ Miller, who played one of Kirk's friends, Stainer, was also hilarious, and made me laugh more than any other character in the movie.

It's an okay flick, but the plot is right outta the Hollywood lazy romantic comedy with a hint of gross-out plot bin. I expected more from the cast of this movie, but they did do the best with what was given to them. It's an okay movie, but I don't see it becoming anyone's favorite.