Overall Rating
  Awesome: 17.44%
Worth A Look: 18.6%
Average: 44.19%
Pretty Bad: 11.63%
Total Crap: 8.14%
7 reviews, 44 user ratings
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| Hitch |
by U.J. Lessing
"Fresh Prince Eye for the Straight Guy"
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Will Smith’s latest romantic-comedy, Hitch, asserts that men are simple-minded, oafish, accident-prone, not nearly as smart as women, and freaking adorable! Why Hitch borrows its foundation from the numerous daytime commercials where men fail to properly use cleaning supplies, I’m not sure, but at least Will Smith is allowed to be charming without packing a machine gun, laser, or explosive device.Smith plays Alex ‘Hitch’ Hitchens, whose career is to assist helpless males catch the women of their dreams. No mention of his salary is made, but judging by his fancy, upscale apartment, he’s making a first-rate living. Hitch works through referrals only and is not interested in helping guys achieve one-night stands. Instead, he creates situations in which women can see past his male clients’ goofy, obtuse exteriors and glimpse the sweet, romantic, gooey mess that lies inside them. Despite his vocation, however, Hitch is jaded about his own love life and chooses not to get attached.
Problems arise when Hitch flips for gossip columnist, Sara (Eva Mendes attempting to channel the ghost of Jean Arthur). Sara is smart as a whip and is just as jaded about her own personal relationships. To further complicate matters, Sara is trying to get the scoop on Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta), the celebrity that Hitch’s newest client is trying to date. With so much going on, it’s no wonder that when Hitch is around Sara, he loses his cool and turns into Jim Varney.
Will Hitch and Sara hook up? Will Sara discover what Hitch does for a living, and will she accept him for who he is? Will Hitch be able to help his newest doughy-boy client Albert (Kevin James) get together with the luscious Allegra Cole? Will they all live happily ever after? If you’ve ever seen a romantic comedy before, you know the answers to all these questions.
The film is enchanting when Hitch is doing his job. Will Smith is captivating when he’s acting as a confidant and giving sage advice to hapless men. We can all relate to how frustrating the ambiguities of dating can be, and we all wish we had a self-assured friend like Will Smith guiding us through the process.
It’s a shame that the romantic interludes don’t offer the same delight. Director Andy Tennant proved he had no inkling about how to do a romantic scene in Anna and the King, and together with writer Kevin Bisch, they create amorous moments that have the same effectiveness as old episodes of The Love Boat. The audience is forced to patiently wade through these scenes to get to the more likable male bonding.It’s ironic, isn’t it, that the strongest romantic chemistry in the movie is between Kevin James and Will Smith? They are charming, flirtatious, and share genuine feelings for each other. Perhaps a braver screenplay would have had these two dump their boring girlfriends, move to Vermont and get married. Too bad. Instead, Hitch ends with a drawn-out ending that will make you long for the credits.
link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=11675&reviewer=396
originally posted: 02/14/05 12:35:17
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USA
11-Feb-2005 (PG-13)
DVD: 14-Jun-2005
UK
N/A
Australia
03-Mar-2005
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