She’s Out Of My League

She’s Out of My League is a check your mind at the door raunchy romantic comedy.  It is strictly by the numbers, and every plot turn and twist is completely by the book. This does not stop it from being highly entertaining, and an enjoyable time at the theater, thanks in part largely to a great cast.

Kirk (Jay Baruchel) is a five. He works as a TSA screener at the Pittsburgh Airport, doesn’t have a college degree, is out of shape, and doesn’t seem to have much to him. Molly is a hard ten. She is beautiful, smart, and successful. So, how do two people so different get together? Well, to be honest it doesn’t happen much. However, Molly is looking for a nice guy for once, a safe bet, but ultimately she can see there is much more to Kirk than meets the eye.

Sounds pretty standard right? Yes and no. You’d be right in assuming that just about every rom-com cliche is here. From the very beginning you know that guy meets girl, guy screws up chance with girl, and a final climax that ends up with them together. It happens the same in every film like this. What matters is what happens in between. In between the derivative storyline is some genuinely funny material, made even funnier by a talented cast.

Jay Baruchel isn’t your normal rom-com leading man, but he has a certain kind of geeky charm that makes it almost slightly believable that he could get with a girl as beautiful as Alice Eve’s Molly. His discomfort at his situation is only multiplied by what you see on screen.  Watching Baruchel on screen, you can’t help but cheer for the underdog. Although it works both ways. I found myself cringing for him in much of the situational comedic aspects of the film.

Alice Eve is the total opposite of Jay Baruchel. I don’t mean to demean the actor, but Eve is beautiful, and is very convincing as the beautiful woman who isn’t too stuck up to give an average Joe a chance. Throw a stone in Hollywood, and you will bound to hit a “hard 10” pretty quickly, but this role required being much more than good looking. Eve has a charisma that allows her to brighten up a scene, and a quality that makes her easy to love.

As solid as the main actors in the cast are, many of the gems in this film come from its supporting cast. None more so than T.J. Miller.  The stand up comic turned actor has the best comedic timing in the film. Much of his off the wall comments wouldn’t work with other actors in the film like Baruchel. If you’ve ever seen his previous work, you’ll know that he tends to be one of the best comedic actors in whatever cast he is in (example: the short lived sitcom Carpoolers).  The audience roared with laughter on just about every occasion he opened his mouth.

In the male group of friends Nate Torrence also makes a memorable appearance, as the slightly naive friend, Devon. In a film where crudeness is thrown around so easily, Torrence’s character might be the oasis in the desert. Mike Vogel plays Jack who gets the least amount to do out of the friends. What little he does get to do plays well, but I’m not sure if supporting cast is his place. (Read about Vogel’s chances to play Captain America.)

There were a couple of other solid supporting cast. Krysten Ritter continues to make her mark on the rom-com genre, with another solid supporting role. She seems to play the best friend so well in these films that I think it is about time she moved up to the main role. Kyle Bornheimer is great as the oafish older brother, who serves up some great laughs at the expense of his younger brother.

As long as you don’t go into She’s Out of My League expecting high brow comedy, and aren’t creeped out by a few gross moments, then you’ll enjoy it. There aren’t many films in this genre that I relate to and like, and as unrealistic as this film might be at times, it is still loads of fun.

Grade: B