Climbing Higher Pictures

If you couldn’t tell from the title, this is a comedy about a guy going after the girl of his dreams… who is clearly way too hot for him. As you can also tell from the title, the film knows exactly what its audience is, and isn’t going to pull any punches in bringing out the most awkward laughter you’ve experienced in quite some time. The real question, is does the film make it into the pantheon of recent comedy classics which have redefined the landscape of R-rated comedy, or is it left grasping for straws? I guess you’ll just have to find out for yourself below:

She’s Out of My League Review

By Ryan Hamelin

Movie Grade: B

Wait, what? Let me get this straight. A funny R-rated comedy that has nothing to do with Judd Apatow, Will Ferrell, or Ben Stiller and starring a bunch of relative unknowns got greenlit at a major studio with a reasonably large budget? Maybe Hollywood isn’t a lost cause after all. Personally, I couldn’t be happier to see Jay Baruchel as a leading man, albeit an awkward and intentionally unflattering one. He’s done his time with great supporting roles in the recent classics Knocked Up and Tropic Thunder, so its nice to see the kid strike out on his own. Without the shadow of Apatow leaning over the movie, there’s a lot to enjoy that feels fresh and new without straying away from a formula that delivers the most satisfying beats. The comedy has a different style to it, and a decided lack of too-quirky-to-be-believable characters grounds the narrative surprisingly well. Sure it has all the moments you know you’re going to see in a rom-com, but it puts the comedy front and center and lets the romance meander around in the background until needed. Basically it’s a really solid date movie, one that won’t have either party clawing their eyes out.

Now that isn’t to say that the film can’t slide into less enjoyable territory form time to time. Make no mistake, the comedy gold here is derived mainly from the painfully awkward vein, and as someone who isn’t a huge fan of the cringe-worthy captured on film, there are parts of the movie that were hard to take. Other people seem to love that sort of humor (a primary reason that Will Ferrell has managed to build and maintain an audience over the years) and they will certainly love it here as the comments fly fast and furiously. The main group of guys is an eclectic bunch, and they’re varied enough to generate great moments of contrast while similar enough that you can believe they became good friends. The “bad guy,” aka the really hot girl’s former boyfriend doesn’t get all that much to do, and he seems to exist solely to progress the plot and fill up screen time.

This brings us to Alice Eve who plays Molly, the perfect 10. As required by the plot, she is a very attractive woman, and at first glance is easy to ignore as such. However, as the story moves forward and we spend more time watching her interact with Baruchel, something else starts to come into play, something I didn’t think we’d really see based on the film’s advertising. Chemistry. You’ll actually believe that she’s the kind of girl who would find a soft spot for the uncoordinated yet humorous qualities that make up the character of Kirk, in a way that wouldn’t have existed with a big name celebrity. The film works because they work, and the reason it surprised me was how completely overmatched the pairing seemed to be in the few clips you can find around the internet. That’s where the drama comes into play, and the romantic aspects finally assert themselves on the narrative.

No matter how it all builds up, a good comedy can never float if the conclusion leaves something to be desired. Luckily, She’s Out of My League sports one of the more satisfying third acts of any recent comedy, and when all is said and done, you will walk out of the theater feeling thoroughly entertained. It might not be comedy gold, and it might not be the kind of film that you will watch again and again with friends or in the background of a party, but there’s enough heart and soul here to make it worth your while. Bring a significant other, sit back, and have a blast. Just make sure you have some good ideas for after the movie too, as your original plans may get upstaged by the film’s most awkward moments.