Photo by Paramount Pictures, Darren Michaels
Alice Eve and Jay Baruchel are shown in a scene from "She's Out of My League."
"She's Out of My League" isn't bad enough to be a career killer, but the fact that this "frank" gross-out (don't ask about the grooming sequence) with delusions of thoughtfulness will live forever in Spike TV/USA Network limbo alongside "The New Guy" with DJ Qualls and "Corky Romano" with Chris Kattan isn't likely to boost star Jay Baruchel's curriculum vitae. (His break will come later this year, when he co-stars with Nicolas Cage in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice.")
Kirk, an average Joe, can't believe his luck. He's stuck in a seemingly dead-end job as an airport security agent. Against all odds, Molly, a ...
Rating: R for language and sexual content
Length: 104 minutes
Released: March 12, 2010 Nationwide
Cast: Jasika Nicole, Jay Baruchel, Lindsay Sloane, Krysten Ritter, Mike Vogel
Director: Jim Field Smith
Writer: Sean Anders, Timothy Dowling
Wide-eyed and scarecrow-skinny, with an angular, mannered way of moving that suggests a cross between Jeff Goldblum and an Indonesian shadow puppet, Baruchel is an appealing Everynerd, even in a film that lurches as violently as a carnival ride from high point to low point, with a sometimes-similar effect on patrons' stomachs.
Memorable in supporting roles in "Knocked Up" and "Tropic Thunder," and cast to physical stereotype as the lead "Star Wars" geek in "Fanboys," Baruchel here plays a Pittsburgh airport security guard named Kirk whose recovery of a lost cell phone belonging to an "insanely hot" event planner (Alice Eve) leads to an unlikely romance that shocks everybody in both their lives. That includes Kirk's goofy friends, his ex-girlfriend (who is quite good-looking, which sort of undercuts the premise) and his cartoonish family members, who are derided for their unsophisticated tastes (they enjoy Elvis shows in Branson, Mo.), as if the creators of "She's Out of My League" were purveyors of high art. (One of Kirk's pals is named "Stainer," apparently because "Stifler" already was taken.)
You can throw garden snails into a frying pan and call it escargot, but it probably won't taste good. Similarly, just because you're pulling ingredients from the Judd Apatow male-oriented romantic comedy cookbook -- a dash of sexual humiliation here, a soupon of vulnerability there -- doesn't mean the dish will be palatable.
"She's Out of My League" demonstrates how hard it is to achieve that Apatow balance between aww-inspiring tenderness and wince-inducing body-fluid slapstick. As staged by director Jim Field Smith, the film even looks crummy, like a direct-to-video "Van Wilder" sequel; more shocking than the lap-licking dog sequence is the realization that this is a DreamWorks release.
-- John Beifuss, 529-2394
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