Another Take By Zac: Film Review: What’s Your Number?

What’s Your Number is a stereotypically constructed romantic comedy that overcomes this by being dirty and having some likable leads.

The premise revolves around a young woman, Ally, who’s “number” (the amount of dudes she’s slept with) is apparently too high.  So instead of searching for another man, she decides to look up all of her ex’s to see if she can marry one of them to keep her number from growing any larger.  She enlists the help of her gorgeous, ripped, and almost always naked neighbor to track down these ex’s and the results are as predictable as you would expect.

So let’s get this out of the way, and this shouldn’t be considered spoiler since we have all seen this before, yes she goes through awkwardness with some ex’s, yes one is gay, yes she falls for the neighbor, yes some arbitrary disagreement drives them apart just as it was about to happen, and yes she ditches the perfectly acceptable guy for next to no reason in the end for her dreams.  If this predictable series of events doesn’t make you scream with anger then you will probably find plenty to enjoy here.

No it is no Bridesmaids, but it is a pretty realistic portrayal at times and isn’t afraid to get dirty with its humor.  Ally is played by the incredibly likable Anna Faris and they do a nice job at making her a grounded and believable protagonist.  She isn’t a slut or a ditz, like Faris is usually type cast, and I think a lot of girls, no matter their number, will be able to relate to the strong Ally.

The premise could have been better exploited for more humor, especially if they broke from formula, but they use Faris as well as she ever has been.  The cast is also full of a bunch of friendly male faces.  Chris Evans plays the handsome neighbor and turns the charm dial too high.  He does disappear in the movie quite inexplicably at times for a second lead, but as a fan of his I enjoyed him quite a bit here.  Also upping the likeability factor of the film is Faris’ husband, Chris Pratt.  An intermittent role, but he got a laugh or two out of me every time he showed up on screen.  Joel McHale gets to have fun in a sleazy and bit gross role here, used just the right amount to not kill it.  Martin Freeman is wasted, sadly, as the humor in his scenes is given over to Faris, who does bring the laughs, but I wonder why they got Freeman.  Ari Graynor, Eliza Coupe, Kate Simses, and Heather Burns are all quite good in their supporting roles as well, with none getting a whole lot to do.  The cast as a whole elevates the film from cliché, even if they can’t make it great, they save it from being terrible.

The film’s dirty sense of humor is used just the right amount as well, and most of the gags worked for me.  Again, this could just be Faris’ likeability carrying the material, but I think the writing deserves some credit.  I was legitimately surprised on more than one occasion where the humor went too.  The film world has been filled with R rated rom-coms over the last few years and this one won’t jump to the head of the pack by any means, but you should be able to still find plenty of laughs in here.

In the end, What’s Your Number is a solid and entertaining romantic comedy that will please fans of the genre.  The guys that get dragged to it will find laughs and eye candy in the scantily clad Faris while women will still be able to relate to her and ogle themselves over Chris Evans. Mark Mylod’s film won’t blow you away but is an easy and fun watch if you are in the mood.

What’s Your Number? is a C