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Kirk (Jay Baruchel) is the not-so-good-looking hero we root for in SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE. Sadly for Kirk, his friends have helpfully informed him that he's only a 5 out of 10 in the attractiveness scale. Interestingly enough, the same rating is appropriate as far as the film's quality is concerned (though I would argue that Baruchel is more in the 6-7 range). This is an undeniably sweet movie, but the laughs are intermittent at best.
The importance of Kirk being a "5" for purposes of the plot is that, for apparently inexplicable reasons, Molly (Alice Eve) shows an interest in him. According to Kirk's friends, Molly is the type of ultra-hot girl who gets a perfect 10/10 score on the attractiveness scale, and for those of us in the audience who can't tell, our introduction to Molly is a montage in which dozens of men of all ages turn their heads as she walks past them.
Much of the film's problems stem from the poor casting of the supporting characters, particularly Kirk's three buddies. Baruchel and Eve would've been able to exhibit far more chemistry if they had a better supporting cast and a sharper script. SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE has moments during which it teeters on cleverness, but then chooses to be safe and immature instead. The best example I can think of that illustrates this is one of the scenes that is meant to be one of the movie's highlights (if so many sex-oriented comedies hadn't covered territory like this before). Kirk and Molly are getting into their first heavy make-out/groping session, and it seems like the session will go even further than that, but of course, Kirk has a, um, "premature accident." Now, the clever part of this scene is the fact that the noise of a jet engine is inserted into the proceedings (which fits perfectly, especially because Kirk works as a TSA employee), but a few seconds later, an unnecessary and borderline disgusting gag with a dog essentially ruins it all. There's also a brilliantly funny moment in which Kirk is on a date with Molly at a restaurant and he's wearing a a red blazer, which makes a long string of people at the restaurant confuse him for a waiter. Sadly, smart moments like that are bogged down with a gross instance of testicle shaving and an unnecessarily childish final chase sequence at the airport.
Jay Baruchel has played some very quirky supporting characters in the past. Unfortunately, in this film, his character is informed in the first scene that his personality type is that of a "moodle" (man poodle), and perhaps following the instructions given to him by the film's director, Baruchel proceeds to act like a "moodle" throughout most of the film, often making googly eyes and not exploiting his comedic chops as much as he could've. However, if you have doubts about whether or not he can carry a movie, I suggest watching I'M REED FISH (which I enjoyed more than a lot of other people did). Alice Eve is asked to embody the persona of your average Miss USA pageant queen, with the constant smile and posture. (Oh, and could they have been a LITTLE more creative in terms of the twist of Molly's big "defect"?)
This is the kind of film that could've accomplished two things at once: it could've been wickedly funny, and it could've explored that mystery that some of us wonder about as to why sometimes people who aren't so attractive end up with a total babe/stud. The film only takes a superficial look at Molly's insecurities but gets scared to go too far, even though it had the potential to go to very interesting places. The plot line of Molly telling half-lies to her parents (pretending to study for the bar exam while actually working as a party planner) is hardly explored, and this gives one the feeling that the film hardly explored some of the potential it had. Deduct five points.
5/10
