Movie Reviews

In an effort to post the reviews in a more timely manner, I've created a simple blog of just my movie reviews. Let's hope I can keep current. Make sure to check Robin's World (thebigfatcat.com) for the complete list.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

October Movie #1: What's Your Number?

Starring: Anna Faris, Chris Evans, Ari Graynor, Blythe Danner
Directed By: Mark Mylod
Run Time: 1 hour 46 minutes

What's Your Number? is about Ally (played by Faris), a young woman who has just broken up with her boyfriend, lost her job, and is in the throes of the planning process of her sister's wedding. She reads an article in a magazine about the average number of men women sleep with - 10.5. The article goes on to say that a woman's chances of getting married dramatically drop to virtually nil if she's slept with 20 or more people. Ally counts up her exes and discovers she's at 19. All of her friends have considerably fewer totals. Ally then decides to go through the list of her exes and see which one has gotten better over time and could possibly be the "one." She enlists the aid of her next door neighbor Colin (played by Evans), a man whose own numbers are considerably higher.

I know I've said this before but I am not a chick flick fan. And yet I go to them (not all of them, mind you). This one seemed more like a fun comedy than a sappy chick flick. For the most part, it's just plain fun. There are some sappy moments (queue the wedding toast and the second to last scene) but it's mostly just sweet and funny. Interestingly enough, there are a lot of snippets in the previews for this movie that are not in the movie at all (queue the puppet scene with Andy Samberg). In a way, that was fine because I'm not a fan of seeing too many previews for a movie because if you piece them all together, you normally get the entire movie.

I liked this movie. That surprises me. I didn't think it was going to be bad (hence why I saw it) but I really didn't expect to like it as much as I did. Yes, it's a tad predictable but I'm (surprisingly) okay with that. I actually had some tears well up in my eyes, the happy sappy verklempt kind (not the sad kind). I loved the vows at the wedding. I loved wedding toast. I loved the "you had me at hello" scene (which, of course, isn't really in the movie but if I told you any more about that scene, you'd figure out the end of the movie). If a movie can get this jaded, hard-edged ol' broad to see the sentimental stars, then it's got a lot going for it.

One small disappointment with this movie: Not getting to know Colin more. What makes him tick? Why is he such a nice guy, especially since he's a bit of a sleaze? He was a fun, jolly, jovial, nice character. One thing that I did like about this movie is that there was no mean moment. Everyone, even though the two sisters were a bit at odds with their controlling mother, was nice and played nice together. I like that.

So... quite a sweet movie. Funny. I laughed short, small, enthusiastic quips over many lines and moments. I wasn't rolling on the floor, clutching my sides, but there was an amiable even keel to the entire movie. It won't change the world, but it certainly doesn't try. It will make you happy for close to two hours. You will leave the theater with a smile on your face (particularly after the closing scene). Sweet. I rather liked it.

No comments:

Post a Comment