She's Out Of My League (DVD)

Kirk (Jay Baruchel), an average-looking airport security officer with low self-esteem, is still having trouble getting over the woman who dumped him two years ago, when into his life walks the extraordinarily beautiful Molly (Alice Eve). Taken aback when Molly shows more than just a passing interest in him, Kirk has to learn to accept his inner beauty and realise that she is not, in fact, out of his league.

The film falls prey to a few common traps: it's frequently preoccupied with tired gross-out gags, and a little too much of it feels like it was written by a particularly juvenile male teenager for the amusement of his friends.

Despite this, however, there are a number of factors that threaten to make She's Out Of My League better than the average gross-out rom-com. Kirk's colleague and buddy Stainer (T.J. Miller), who moonlights as the frontman of a Hall & Oates tribute band, has many of the film's best lines, and a certain charm and tenderness that prevents him from being yet another boorish Stifler-type character. Also, Krysten Ritter is very funny but underused as Molly's friend Patty.

Crucially, the film tries harder than the average flick of its type to explore the psychological insecurities involved in male-female relationships. In one scene, Kirk finds himself hoping that Molly has a defect so that he can exploit her vulnerability. Lesser movies would simply be content to take at face value Stainer's assertion that on a scale of attractiveness from 1 to 10, Kirk is a "5" whilst Molly is a "hard 10" and leave it at that

Finally, the film contains some of the most awkward scenes I've watched for a long time. It's hard to tell whether this a plus or a minus. Kirk's social ineptitude is surprisingly painful to watch, and sometimes it's very funny, but just as often it's plain frustrating, and you feel like shouting at the screen for him to get over himself.

Ultimately I think blokes are more likely to enjoy the film than women are, since its premise is essentially male wish-fulfilment; but at least it's (slightly) more ambitious than the average Farrelly Brothers knock-off, and frequently very funny.

The special features are average-to-good. Aside from the standard commentary, deleted scenes and outtakes, we get 'Devon's Dating Show', a comedy short involving Kirk's camp friend from the film, Devon. It's infantile and has none of the depth of the main feature, but it's gently funny.

Overall Verdict: Fairly standard A-to-B plotline, hampered by some infantile gags and attitudes, but with an unexpectedly high laughter count.

Special Features:
Commentary by director Jim Field Smith
Devon's Dating Show
Deleted scenes
Blooper

Reviewer: Tom René