She's Out of My League

There is a scene in She’s Out of My League where the average guy Kirk (Jay Baruchel) and the blonde knock-out Molly (Alice Eve) are in her parents place enjoying some quality alone time early in their relationship. Their make-out session is passionate and intense and while he suggests they slow it down a bit, she presses on. (so to speak) Then in the scene’s “climactic” (last one, I promise) moment, he is hit with the sudden and unmistakable realization that he may have been enjoying it a bit too much for his own good. Her parents arrive and the scene delivers on some decent cringe-worthy humour. But more than that, this sequence serves as a metaphor for how this movie made me feel when I left the theatre.

Please, let me explain.

I had high hopes for this movie. I went into it with the expectations of achieving full narrative satisfaction by the end of it. And while it had its moments and was not at all an unpleasant experience, it still left me feeling somewhat unsatisfied. There is a really good movie in there somewhere but this time out, it just didn’t bring its “A” game.

Now that I’ve sufficiently and uncomfortably driven that metaphor into the ground, let’s move on.

I like Baruchel in just about everything he’s done up to this point and he doesn’t disappoint here. As Kirk, he brings and intelligence and warmth to a character which could easily come off as pathetic. Kirk is an airport security guy who lacks a great deal of self-confidence. Our first image of Kirk is him pleading to his “girlfriend” that while they’ve both benefited by their two years of “off time” from their relationship, he believes it’s time for some “on time”. This despite the fact that his girlfriend has a new boyfriend, both of whom have been all but adopted by Kirk’s parents.

Alice Eve is equally adept in her performance as Molly, the stunningly beautiful young woman who still comes off sweet and likable. It’s not that Molly doesn’t know she’s beautiful. She just seems completely at ease about it. When she’s invited to join Kirk’s family for a swim she tells them she doesn’t have a bathing suit. When they encourage her to swim in her underwear, she tells them with great glee that she is not wearing any. This makes her seem even sexier to the guys in the scene and us as the audience. The filmmakers seem to understand the universal truth that there is nothing quite as sexy as someone who is comfortable in their own skin. Of course they hedge their bets by showing off Molly’s body in a manner I haven’t seen since Jessica Rabbit.

Perhaps even stronger than the leads were the supporting cast, particularly Kirk’s family. I’ve mentioned before that thriller suspense movies are only as strong as the heavy. An addendum to this is that romantic comedies are only as strong as the supporting players (i.e.. Ilsa Fisher in Wedding Crashers). Here, Lindsey Sloane as his ex, Marnie, and Kyle Bornheimer as Kirk's obnoxious brother Dylan serve beautifully as foils to Kirks attempts to have a normal relationship with Molly. Also standing in the way is Kirk’s best friend Stainer (T.J. Miller) who puts it in Kirk’s head that she is too hot for him and it will never work.

So, I liked the leads, loved the supporting cast, what’s wrong with this movie? They do a nice job of setting up the Kirk and Molly dating situation but they don’t know what to do with them once they’re there. The scene I mentioned off the top, and its aftermath, represents the only believable jeopardy for this relationship. They introduce Molly’s jet-flying ex-boyfriend Cam but this falls well short of the intended target. Cam thinks Kirk is nothing more than Molly’s gay BFF and when he is set straight, he goes away and is never heard from again. And with him goes some dramatic plot points that this movie sorely needed.

They only thing keeping the lovers apart is Kirk doesn’t believe he is good enough for Molly. And Molly makes an admission as to why she wanted to date Kirk in the first place which is supposed to be a major revelation but is less than earth-shaking. So without anything significant really keeping them apart, it doesn’t take much to bring them back together. The third act is sloppy and erratic and stands out as a disappointment considering everything that came before it.

There is a lot to like in this movie. It is not a laugh out loud riot like say Wedding Crashers or The Hangover but it has its share of funny moments. We enjoy spending time with Kirk and Molly whenever they are on the screen. It’s just…how do you describe an experience that promises so much but just doesn’t deliver the big finish at the very end?

Ah yes...anti-climactic.

(I lied. THAT is the last one)