She’s Out of My League (2010)

Directed by: Jim Field Smith | 104 minutes | comedy, romance | Actors: Jay Baruchel, Mike Vogel, Krysten Ritter, Lindsay Sloane, Alice Eve, Debra Jo Rupp, TJ Miller, Geoff Stults, Hayes MacArthur, Jasika Nicole, Kim Shaw, Adam LeFevre, Andrew Daly, Trevor Eve, Jessica St. Clair, Adam Tomei, Nate Torrence, Kyle Bornheimer, Sharon Maughan, Brandi Engel, Evan Alex Cole, Jeffrey Jones, Jessica Joslin, Krista Schwandt, Joe Forgione

Jay Baruchel is steadily moving up the ranks of Seth Green, Jonah Hill and associates. The clique that mainly gained fame under the direction or production of Judd Apatow is now more than capable of leaving that stable and standing on its own feet. So is Baruch. He played one of the lead roles in ‘Fanboys’ (2008) and was more or less the main character as the voice of the Viking Hiccup in ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ (2010), in ‘She’s Out of My League’ he is one step closer to a title role (the ‘My’ refers to his reticent twenty-something Kirk). Given his portrayal of this hopeless romantic, it cannot be ruled out that he will have the full honor of appearing on the film posters with his character’s name and surname on a subsequent project.

In Jim Field Smith’s directorial debut, 28-year-old Baruchel takes a comedy that could easily have been standard and conformable to the next level, by credibly bringing the endearing Kirk to the forefront. And that’s a good thing, because in the first part of the film he has to do that completely alone. The group of friends with whom he first shared his childhood and now the same hopeless job at an airport seems to have come straight from Steve Stiffler’s universe, if they had taken their jargon from a love novel by Diablo Cody. The jokes and one-liners they fire in the opening scene to introduce their characters largely miss the point and make you wonder if there are people outside of comedy scripts who really talk like that – comparable to the first half hour of ‘Juno’. Kirk’s family is also made up of cardboard caricatures that you would also find at Eddie Murphy’s dining table, if he played all the guests himself. The dumb, big-mouthed brother, the beer-drinking, sports channel-watching dad, and the unnecessarily grinning mom (Debra Jo Rupp, who performs one-on-one from “That 70’s Show”), to name a few. However, the film manages to turn that situation around pretty quickly, because Field Smith has another trump card in its cast in addition to Baruchel: Alice Eve. When the titular ‘She’ takes the stage and with it Kirk’s world, the focus shifts to the touching dance these two soon-to-be lovers perform around each other after their chance meeting. Coincidentally, because the beautiful Molly accidentally leaves her phone with Kirk during check-in, but aren’t all first encounters in such movies accidental? When the main storyline then begins its course, the film is also ready to go and Kirk’s initially childish mates manage to conquer the viewer anyway – as if they are the ones we have to fall for. They appear to be well able to play a supporting role collectively, by providing their friend with advice and assistance in his successful, but also less successful attempts. The main contribution is made by Devon (Nate Torrence), who on the one hand cannot resist comparing the couple’s romance with well-known fairy tales, but on the other hand a helping hand with a hilarious piece of ‘manscaping’ not out of the ordinary. leaves – just to name one example. The Klumps also make up for it thanks to an extended scene that takes place – ironically – around the dinner table when Kirk introduces his date to his family. Fortunately, the role of that unlikely company is mainly intended for the background, because your first impression here is difficult to find a more positive second.

“She’s Out of My League” isn’t a surprise hit like romantic comedies like “There’s Something About Mary” and more recently “Definitely, Maybe” were, but it does a lot of good en route to the inevitable happy ending. The loving couple is played strongly and the supporting roles are filled in variable, but still offer enough nice moments and a number of genuinely funny finds to make the balance more than positive. The story may not be a unique fairy tale, but the execution is more than adequate and the film provides successful entertainment for couples as well as for friends. Although that balance involuntarily leans in the direction of cinema dates and couches, given the genre, that will not come as a surprise.