Film Review with Robert Mann – She’s Out of My League

6th June 2010

She’s Out of My League ***

Just like 2007 was the year of Shia Labeouf (him having starred in Transformers and Disturbia and provided his voice for animated film Surf’s Up), it seems that 2010 may the year of Jay Baruchel, or at least this is what studios are hoping anyway. In some ways mimicking the breakout of Shia Labeouf before him, he is co-starring in a big summer blockbuster with August’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, he is the lead in a low budget film hoping to break out in the form She’s Out of My League and he has already lent his voice to the main character in animated feature How to Train Your Dragon. But, just who is Jay Baruchel you’re wondering? And where did he come from? The answer is that he has been around for some time in fact. Just like other comic stars before him, Seth Rogen being a prime example, Baruchel has been playing smaller roles in other comedies for a while now and the films you may just recognise him from include the likes of Night at the Museum 2, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Tropic Thunder, Knocked Up and Fanboys. Like many comedy actors Baruchel has worked his way up to the top and now with his first star vehicle She’s Out of My League he has to face the real test – will he break out like Seth Rogen did and, perhaps more importantly, will he continue to be popular for more than a year or two?

Kirk (Jay Baruchel) works at the airport, hangs out with his friends Stainer (T.J. Miller), Jack (Mike Vogel) and Devon (Nate Torrence), and imagines getting back together with his ex-girlfriend Marnie (Lindsay Sloane). One day, Molly (Alice Eve) sashays through his security checkpoint and accidentally leaves her mobile phone behind. Molly is sophisticated, devastatingly beautiful and completely out of Kirk’s league. When Kirk returns the phone, she offers to repay the favour with tickets for a hockey game. He accepts, never thinking for one second that this dream girl is asking him on a date. The pair couldn’t seem less suited to each other, a fact that Kirk’s friends and family waste no time pointing out to him. But as the relationship suffers a series of hilarious ups and downs, Kirk becomes determined to prove that if you try hard enough, love can overcome anything…

She’s Out of My League is a film that firmly establishes itself as a romantic comedy but unlike the majority of romcoms this is no chick flick but rather a film aimed squarely at the male moviegoer. Many guys will be able to relate to the character of Kirk and the situation he is in, the feelings of inadequacy Kirk experiences undoubtedly being shared by many men, although they may be somewhat less open about it. It is this relatability that makes the film a bit more worthwhile than other films treading similar territory, although the humour does tend to be rather predictable and a tad gross (although never too explicitly so) on occasion, the usual sexual references and innuendos that you might find in other films such as this being present, in the form of some rather crude dialogue and, most notably, a testicle shaving scene. This humour fails to provide many laugh out loud moments although the target audience should get a few kicks out of it all. This isn’t to say that the film doesn’t manage to deliver a few big laughs, however, because it does, but it is in the more tender scenes that the humour really emerges, the most notable example of this being in the scene where Kirk and Molly have their first date, which balances sweet and funny without resorting to anything crude to create its laughs. This tenderness at the heart of the film, something you might expect more from a chick flick than a film aimed at guys, is what really makes the film work. The chemistry between Jay Baruchel and Alice Eve is extremely sweet and because of this seems very believable and we really can buy the two of them being together. Individually, Baruchel is a very charming leading man – it isn’t too hard to see why a woman like Molly would fall for a guy like Kirk – and Eve is a very delightful love interest, both looking the part and having the kind of personality a guy could really fall for. The other cast members mostly amuse as well but it is the two leads that carry the film, their chemistry being what makes an otherwise unmemorable film into something very enjoyable. So, overall, while She’s Out of My League may be quite formulaic on many levels and probably isn’t the funniest film you will see this year, it has enough laughs and romantic charm to make it worth checking out. It isn’t in the same league as many great romantic comedies but it is certainly in a higher league than some of the rubbish romcoms coming out of Hollywood recently.

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Review by Robert Mann BA (Hons)

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