Darren Michaels/ParamountReview in a Hurry: A dorky TSA agent (Jay Baruchel) is fortunate enough to catch the eye of a superhot party planner (Alice Eve), but is so self-doubting that he risks sabotaging the best thing to ever happen to him. Welcome to the plot of every underdog romantic comedy ever—there are indeed some good laughs, but the story here is negligible.
The Bigger Picture: Woody Allen made a name for himself as a funny nerd who lands way more attractive women than he should. Revenge of the Nerds and many other similar movies invariably end with the slightly less-than-perfect victimized guys landing the smokingest babes.
So if you're going to take on that tradition, you have an obligation to add something new to the mix.
Aside from being set in the apparently wacky world of Pennsylvania airport security, She's Out of My League doesn't really do so. Writers Sean Anders and John Morris (Sex Drive, the upcoming Hot Tub Time Machine) have come up with some decent bits: an awkward premature moment here, a sensitive male crotch-shaving skit there.
But the story overall doesn't work especially well, which is a shame, because the cast are game and you want to root for them.
The major problem is that the movie's supposed main characters: awkward Kirk (Baruchel) and gleaming smiler Molly (Eve) are absurdly nonproactive, doing almost nothing to move the story along. They date, briefly split up...and then it's up to the best-friend characters to save the day, while our protagonists do pretty much zip. An overly macho ex-boyfriend (Geoff Stults) and his misinterpretation of Kirk's sexual orientation goes nowhere, as does an aborted subplot about both Kirk and Molly wanting to learn how to fly.
Stealing all the scenes, meanwhile, is Cloverfield's T.J. Miller as "Stainer," a walking hard-on who looks like Seth Rogen and talks like Jason Lee...totally killer combo for movies like this one. It's too bad he isn't the lead.
Tough call grading this one: It definitely delivers some entertainment, but not quite enough to pay full price on.
The 180—a Second Opinion: The movie's final thesis—that someone who looks like Jay Baruchel is only unattractive to the extent that he believes he is—is a point well taken. Especially considering that, despite the marketing campaign, he really isn't that bad-looking of a guy.
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