Romancefest 2016: Hitch

I guess this goes without saying but throughout Romancefest 2016 I've learned that successful romantic comedies are good natured. It's not uncommon for them to be about the "war of the sexes" or whatever you want to call it. But it's key for them to go into that territory without getting nasty. HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS got a little nasty and was worse for it. 2005's HITCH, directed by Andy Tennant, also deals with concealed identities and characters scheming and manipulating their relationships, but it always remains fun, light hearted, and yes, good natured. So it's good!

Will Smith stars as the title character, a "dating doctor" who advises men on how to get together with the women they pine after. He's not a "how to get laid" guy -- that would take the movie in too far of a mean direction. Instead, he helps guys get over their shyness and low self esteem in order to stand a chance with a woman they might otherwise assume they don't. Of course the movie has to couch the subject this way so it doesn't have to get into the ethics of the whole thing, but the movie also does get into that a little bit, so it's not as if it totally ignores its own premise, which is nice.

As the movie opens, Smith is advising a hapless, clumsy but sweet accountant (Kevin James) in his attempts to woo a wealthy heiress (Amber Valletta). Meanwhile, Smith's attempting to handle his own life as he falls head over heels for a gossip columnist (Eva Mendes) who is jaded and cynical about love and married to her work.

Of course the movie was a big hit and I saw all the ads, but I was still pleasantly surprised. From the ads I knew Smith was supposed to be cool and collected -- the guy who has all the answers. And he is, for half the movie, when he's helping his clients. In his personal life he's met his match with Mendes and their dates are one disaster after another, including a particularly amusing allergic reaction that first has Smith swelling up and then has him getting drunk on Benadryl. This is way more charming than a self serving portrait of Smith ONLY as the cool guy -- since we get a vulnerable look at his own goofiness, it lets the air out of the premise a little bit, gives the character room to grow, and lets the audience be on his side, as much as we're on the side of Kevin James, who is the more traditionally likable character.

The nice thing is, Smith learns from James and Mendes as much or more than he teaches his own clients, and the whole "date doctor" thing becomes kind of a red herring and not REALLY what the movie is about.

I've said before I don't think Smith ever had the one movie that really lived up to his star power potential. What I meant was, there was never that one that was loved by audiences, loved by critics, and a huge hit, that really took advantage of how great Smith can be. They all seemed to have asterisks as far as I was concerned. I guess I have to take that back a little because I think HITCH might be the one. The role that really does Smith justice.

I've been noticing a trend this month, though, and this movie sticks to it a little -- just when you think it's sweeping to a satisfying conclusion, there's one or two more awkward little scenes thrown in there to tie up what I guess the studio thinks are loose ends of the plot that we don't really need. There's an awkward epilogue in this flick where after Smith has learned his lesson and all is well with James, he still has to hunt down Mendes and make things right. That's to be expected but you know you're in trouble when mopping up this business involves introducing new characters with only minutes left in the run time.

That's just a minor hiccup though. Other than that, HITCH is great.