She’s Out of my League review

Jeffrey Lyles October 11, 2013February 16, 2016 2 Comments Alice Eve, Jay Baruchel, Krysten Ritter, mike vogel, Nate Torrence, She's Out of My League, T.J. Miller

She’s Out of My League is one of those outrageous comedies that probably shouldn’t work. The premise — a nearly perfect girl falls for a regular guy — is a stretch even for a movie. It doesn’t have an A-list or even B-list star headlining and unlike last year’s smash hit The Hangover, there’s no inspired stunt casting cameo a la Mike Tyson air drumming to Phil Collins to get people rushing to the theaters.

Turns out all League needs is a great cast and a hilarious script to crack you up in one of the best laugh til you cry comedies of the last decade.

Kirk (Jay Baruchel, Tropic Thunder) works the security gate at the airport and while he dreams of one day being a pilot, for now he’d be content to reunite with his ex, Marnie (Lindsey Sloane, Over Her Dead Body).

Marnie has happily moved on with the clueless, but likeable, Ron (Hayes MacArthur), but she likes Kirk’s family more than her own to the point she still hangs out with them going as far as joining them on the family vacation.

Kirk’s friends Stainer (T.J. Miller, Cloverfield), Jack (Mike Vogel, Cloverfield [Blu-ray]) and Devon (Nate Torrence, Get Smart) are baffled as to why Kirk would be so willing to be Marnie’s doormat again.

But none of them can predict what happens when Kirk encounters Molly, (Alice Eve, Star Trek Into Darkness), a beautiful event planner who is oddly charmed by his self-deprecating demeanor.

Baruchel is a great unassuming lead. He accentuates his slight frame by hunching over and generally carries Kirk as having very little confidence around Molly, especially after meeting her pilot ex Cam (Geoff Stults). Eve is the ideal perfectly hot chick and she’s not asked to do much more other than being the too good to be true hot chick.

What sends the film to must-watch category though is the outstanding supporting cast. Miller is that unfiltered friend countered perfectly by Krysten Ritter, who plays Molly’s sarcastic business partner Patty. Torrence’s hopeless romantic is a welcome change of pace from the norm and Kirk’s family, led by his obnoxious brother Dylan (Kyle Bornheimer), are amusing enough that they could have carried their own movie.

The script by Sean Anders and John Morris, who previously teamed on the underrated Sex Drive (Unrated and Cream-filled) [Blu-ray], is fresh and for the most part, avoids falling into the typical pratfalls of the romantic comedy genre.

Their characters experience real insecurities and while they find themselves in awkward positions such as Kirk being mistaken for a waiter at a fancy restaurant, the comedy flows naturally without going into unrealistic territory for the sake of a laugh.

As expected from Anders and Morris, the script earns a solid “R” rating with some raunchy scenes, especially the bathroom shaving scene and Kirk’s first meeting with Molly’s parents, but it’s good-natured and avoids being overly offensive.

Director Jim Field Smith finds some creative perspectives to shoot and makes has great timing in terms of how long to let a joke play out and captures every awkward moment without making it come across as too forced.

The only thing preventing me from giving it a 10 is the cliché misunderstanding/break-up/reunion common in most romantic comedies. At least this one has a reason for the big declaration of love to occur in an airport.

That slight misstep aside, this is one of my go to comedies and one I highly recommend if you haven’t seen yet.