Hitch
Nope, not a biopic of uber-director Alfred Hitchcock, but the latest vehicle for Will Smith – returning to his familiar Fresh Prince of Bel Air style comedy after a series of sub-par turns in the likes of Men in Black II, Bad Boys II, I Robot and Shark Tale. This is the Will Smith we all know and love – charming, witty, and showing impeccable comic timing. Thankfully he’s also refrained from singing the theme song this time…Smith plays Alex Hitchens, appropriately nicknamed “Hitch” as his vocation is to help hapless blokes, as he himself used to be, to get hitched to the women of their dreams. As he puts it, he’s a “date doctor”. It has been dubbed, in some quarters, as “Black Eye for the White Guy” after the recent popularity of the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy TV series – and that is pretty much spot on.
Although Hitch could seem like a busybody – poking his nose into other people’s relationships and offering initially unasked-for advice, his easy likeability and unforced charisma somehow makes the fact that no one ever seems to punch him for getting involved entirely believable. The fact that, even after he’s hired by these unlucky love-hunters, money is never seen to change hands only adds to the sense that he is practically impossible to dislike.
Of course, Smith simply helping out others, as amusing as some of the set-ups – especially those involving Kevin James of the US TV sitcom The King of Queens – may be is hardly in itself enough for a movie, even for the notoriously slight plots of the romantic comedy genre. So, naturally enough, he falls for someone himself and – surprise, surprise – the power of true love seems instantly to rob him of all his smooth sophistication as he regresses to the kind of klutzy incompetence which it is his job to rid others of.
Cue an array of slapstick antics and cringe-making embarrassments as Smith desperately tries to woo the woman of his dreams – played by the equally entirely likeable and utterly gorgeous up-and-coming Latino actress Eva Mendes, who seems rapidly to be surpassing J-Lo in the Hollywood Hispanic hottie stakes.
The whole film is utterly predictable and entirely devoid of originality, naturally, but – like Hitch himself – it is both funny and practically impossible to dislike. They really should have released it a month ago to catch the Valentine’s Day crowd as it is, unsurprisingly considering it’s a romantic comedy with a male lead whom both sexes can like and a female lead that men will lust after, an ideal date movie. Unchallenging, but amusing and fun.
posted by Nosemonkey @ 12:00 AM
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