1/2

This review first appeared in The Colorado Springs Gazette. To read this review at its original source, click here.

You know what I’m talking about. We’ve all seen it. You’re walking through the mall when a couple passes you. He is average, possessing no traits one would even remotely identify as handsome. But she is mind-bogglingly gorgeous, a caliber of beauty so far beyond the man holding her hand that it makes you stare, your mouth agape, trying to unravel a sudden and vexing mystery. The surprisingly enjoyable She’s Out of My League capitalizes on that very feeling, and while it’s a bigger fantasy film than The Lord of the Rings, it owns its implausibility in a way that endears rather than repulses.

Kirk (Jay Baruchel) is a going-nowhere-fast, low-level Pittsburgh TSA agent who dreams of one day becoming a pilot. Remember the guy your mom said was a catch because he had such “great personality?” That’s Kirk. Kirk’s life takes an unexpected turn when he meets exclusive event planner Molly (Alice Eve) who invites him out to one of her parties after he rescues her phone from the black hole of the TSA’s lost and found.

While Kirk is instantly smitten, he can’t imagine a world where the knockout Molly is being anything other than simply appreciative. After all, as his friends are quick to remind him, he’s a five at best while she’s a “hard 10.” But it turns out Molly, intelligent and sweet, is actually into the endearing geek, a development his fragile ego, used to the limitations of his DNA, might not be able to handle.

Unlike most films that would create a nerdy character with whom we cannot see a woman as beautiful as Molly falling in love, She’s Out of My League actually makes Kirk more than credible. Sure, he’s almost too nice, and sure, he could use a stiffer backbone, but Kirk is not only likeable to us, we can see why Molly might like him, too. You find yourself enthusiastically rooting for him. While the film could have taken their relationship into all-too-familiar territory, She’s Out of My League traipses right up to the line and just when you think it’s going to cross over, does an about face and goes a direction rarely seen. The plain, ordinary Kirk isn’t the only one battling a wounded, underappreciated self-image; the woman shaped like a goddess is too.

Baruchel and Eve are backed up by a hilarious supporting cast including Krysten Ritter as Eve’s caustic co-worker and T.J. Miller, Nate Torrence and Mike Vogel as Kirk’s best friends who tease him mercilessly and, for a moment or two, actually come close to rising to the level of the great Swingers commentary on the perils of modern romance and the laundry list of dating regulations.

For most of She’s Out of My League’s running time, the film (best described as two movies, neither of which is remotely realistic) is sweet, hilarious and even charming. But several times it veers unexpectedly into crude vulgarity that almost derails it completely, threatening a sort of filmic schism. There are too many times that the film couldn’t seem to decide whether it wanted to be a romantic comedy or a crude successor to American Pie. Luckily, the tender half is stronger than the offensive half.

© Copyright 2010 Brandon Fibbs. All rights reserved.

Cast: Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve, Krysten Ritter, T.J. Miller, Nate Torrence, Mike Vogel, Lindsay Sloane
Director: Jim Field Smith
Rated PG-13 for language and sexual content.
Running time: 104 min.