What’s Your Number (2011)

Directed by: Mark Mylod | 113 minutes | comedy | Actors: Anna Faris, Chris Evans, Martin Freeman, Chris Pratt, Zachary Quinto, Anthony Mackie, Aziz Ansari, Thomas Lennon

The number of bed partners a person has had can lead to serious fights between lovers, but can also lead to feelings of shame – whether there are too many or too few in the eyes of the person in question. In ‘What’s Your Number?’, which refers to the number of sexual partners, main character Ally Darling is very concerned about it. Just after she was fired, she reads in a semi-scientific article in a popular women’s glossy that the average is about 10.5. A quick calculation shows her that she is almost double: nineteen. Add to that the fact that her attractive and much more stable sister is about to tie the knot and Ally is told at the party that precedes it that when the number exceeds twenty, most women will have a happy and healthy marriage. can write and her decision is made. Number twenty must be the one.

Of course, Ally does not keep up with this boldly announced measure and of course that same evening she dives into bed inebriated with someone who is absolutely not the one she wants to marry: her ex-boss, who fired her earlier that day. . When Ally runs into one of her exes, who now looks a lot better than when she broke up with him, she realizes that there are bound to be more men who might not have been worth it then, but are now. Ally decides to look for all her previous boyfriends, with the help of her attractive neighbor who is allowed to use her apartment in exchange for his detective skills. He wants to hide there from the necessary one night stands, which, without exception, he no longer needs to see in the morning.

Anna Faris is a fine comedian, and her girl-next-door appearance also works to her advantage in this film. But the humor in the book (“What’s Your Number” is based on Karyn Bosnak’s bestseller “Twenty Times a Lady”) was more subtle and focused more on the bizarre situations in which the first-than-thinking protagonist managed to find himself. to work. The translation to the silver screen is therefore not entirely successful: the jokes are often stale – although Faris can open a smile here and there in the viewer. What is striking is the somewhat vulgar undertone of the jokes, as we know from Judd Apatow films. Unfortunately, the screenwriters seem to think that using “penis” and “vagina” will cause some chuckles, because the jokes don’t always work out well here. In ‘Friends with Benefits’ – a similar ‘sexy romantic comedy’, the sexual undertones made for much more comical situations.

Talking about sexy: Chris Evans can be seen quite often with a naked (upper) body, but that’s not the only plus: Evans is charming, has nice lyrics and the chemistry between him and his co-star is fully present. It’s a shame that these two fun protagonists have to make do with this mediocre scenario (while the source material is so promising), because it doesn’t use their talent to the fullest. For example, the ‘social media’ additions – the use of Facebook and Twitter – are very forced and the story of the film is stretched too long to really keep you interested. Fortunately, the supporting actors (including Blythe Danner as Ally’s demanding mother, Ari Graynor as her sister and the actors who play Ally’s exes) do make a positive contribution to the film. Yet the cast, no matter how hard they try, fails to transform the unoriginal and bland screenplay of ‘What’s Your Number’ into a classic in the genre.