She's Outta My League
Directed by Jim Field Smith
Written by Sean Anders, John Morris
Starring Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve, T.J Miller, Mike Vogel, Krysten Ritter
Release Date March 12th, 2010
Published March 12th, 2010
Anyone who thinks actor Jay Baruchel is an unlikely star of a major mainstream comedy must have never seen him on the brilliant and unfortunately brief TV series Undeclared. Baruchel was a natural comic lead, sympathetic, self deprecating and very funny. He brings that same mix of vulnerability, angst and good humor to She's out of My League and while it's not Undeclared, it is a modestly funny distraction worth the price of a movie ticket.
Kirk (Baruchel) works in airport security with his three closest pals, Stainer (TJ Miller), Devon (Nate Torrence) and Jack (Mike Vogel) because he really can't think of anything better to do. He wants to be a pilot but lacks the ambition to pursue a pilot's license, content to hang out with his friends. Kirk's life gets a jolt when by chance he catches the eye of Molly (Alice Eve) a smoking hot blonde who accidentally leaves her phone at Kirk's security post. She repays him with a date and then another date before Kirk finally understands that she is honestly, romantically interested in him.
Thanks to years of low self esteem and his friend's awful ability to have his back, Kirk has an impossible time believing a woman as beautiful and successful as Molly could really be interested in him. For her part, Molly admits to her friend Patty (Krysten Ritter) that Kirk is a safe choice because he is unlikely to break her heart.
The conflict is believable and while it plays for laughs it works as a strong roadblock for Kirk and Molly's romance. Baruchel and Alice Eve have a strong chemistry playing first the mismatch and eventually settling into a strong romantic vibe. The strength of She's out of My League is Baruchel and Eve's ability to make us care about them while the film whirls from one lowbrow gag to the next.
Playing Kirk's best friend Stainer T.J Miller tries a little too hard to be the missing member of the Knocked Up supporting cast. That said, Miller has a few strong moments, especially when he's playing in his awesome cover band "Adult Education." If you don't know what the band is covering, you aren't trying hard enough. Stainer is pivotal to the film's finish but I could have done without much of his act.
Not all of She's out of My League works but what does is very strong. Jay Baruchel has strong comic instincts and the film plays well to his strengths, vulnerability and a strong sense of who he is. Alice Eve is beautiful and rounds out the character with honesty and self awareness. The romance has depth beyond the wild gags, as the best of this kind of comedy does, and that make She's out of My League worth your time at the theater.
