Film review: She's out of my League

Published on 03/06/2010 19:04

SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE (15) ** DIRECTED BY: JIM FIELD SMITH STARRING: JAY BARUCHEL, ALICE EVE, TJ MILLER, JESSICA ST CLAIR

FROM the writers of the recent Hot Tub Time Machine comes another lazy homme-com that ransacks John Hughes's back catalogue and attempts to update it with Judd Apatow-style raunchiness; the results are formulaic and inoffensively bland.

Knocked Up minor player Jay Baruchel is the dumped-on airport security worker who finds himself turning to his coterie of sceptical-about-love co-workers when a blonde bombshell (Alice Eve) takes more than a passing interest in his scrawny looks and stuttering sweetness.

The friends, led by TJ Miller's insecure loudmouth, guess that she's really just looking for a temporary dependable boyfriend after a bad break-up. But when their relationship actually evolves beyond that, his insecurity gets the better of him, paving the way for the usual break-up/make-up plot points interspersed with gross-out gags involving dogs and premature ejaculation.

Despite such groaning obviousness, both Baruchel and Eve work hard to make the limited material work, and if they never quite succeed, then they can console themselves with the fact that the title is at least applicable to their careers. They deserve better than this.