She's Out of My
League
It
must be nice to live in the world of Judd Apatow and his co-horts.
In
this world, drop-dead gorgeous women are not just interested in short,
quirky, funny, nerdy guys, but they are more than willing throw themselves
at the guys. They are eager – after a mere short
conversation – to offer their love, their bodies, free sports tickets and
massive amounts of alcohol to guys who probably had to take their cousin to
prom, if they went at all.
Take
for example, the heroine in the new comedy She’s Out of My League.
(Which is not an Apatow film, but it is certainly inspired by his work and
features people who have worked with him behind and in front of the
camera.)
She
asks the guy out. She is the one to do the first kiss. She is willing to
meet his crazy family and ex-girlfriend within a couple of weeks of their
dating. She blows off her hunky ex for him. She agrees to take a family
trip with them – to Branson, Missouri, of all God-forsaken places – long
before they have consecrated their relationship. Hell, she does everything
but mount the guy. Oh yeah, well actually she does that too. However, she
does not quite go so far as seduce him and ask him to marry her.
And
what does the guy do as he is being aggressively courted by this
model-beautiful, rich, smart professional woman? He is so insecure that a
woman like that could never like him that he doesn’t recognize that she is
practically raping him. Believe me, I have missed signs from women in the
past, but you would have to be blind to miss the great lengths this woman is
going to in order to show her interest.
As a
critic, I know it’s a kind of silly movie, not exactly well made and with
some really stupid plot turns and clichéd, dumb supporting characters.
As a
man, I have to admit the guy was right all along. She is out of his
league – way, way out. He would have no shot with a woman like this in real
life. (Unless he was rich or famous, neither attributes this guy has.)
This simple fact makes it very hard to believe the action on screen.
But,
I have to admit, while I didn’t believe the central relationship for a
second, I kind of liked the movie for what it was – wish-fulfillment for
nerdy guys. (Yeah, I guess I do fit into that category.)
She’s Out of My League
is a fantasy – as
unbelievable in its own way as Avatar was. It’s kind of a fun
fantasy, though, so the audience is willing to cut it some slack.
The
movie stars former Apatow star Jay Baruchel (TV’s Undeclared, Knocked Up)
– who is suddenly the busiest man in the movies this side of Liam Neeson
with this starring vehicle, the lead voice role in How To Train Your
Dragon and the upcoming Disney fantasy The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
Baruchel plays Kirk, a guy who works at a job he hates as an airport
security officer (he’d rather be flying) and is obsessing about winning back
his ex-girlfriend, who he also kind of hates. (She and her new boyfriend
have been embraced by Kirk’s dysfunctional family – it seems they like her
more than him.)
One
day he finds the cell phone of a gorgeous party planner named Molly (Alice
Eve). To thank him for bringing it back to her, she invites him to an
exclusive party, takes him for a hockey game and buys him dinner.
No
one – not her friends, his friends, her family, his family, their exes,
complete strangers on the street or the audience
watching this in the movie theater – quite understands what this
beautiful, confident career woman sees in this shy, awkward loser.
But
again, if you are going for realism, go see a documentary. She’s Out of
My League is a dumb-but-funny wish fulfillment fantasy for nerdy guys
everywhere, but in it’s low-key way it actually is a lot more appealing than
it would seem on the surface.
What
do you know? The film is apparently just like that character that inspired
it.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2010 PopEntertainment.com.
All rights reserved. Posted: April 13, 2010.
