It was quite strange to watch a film such as Hitch - I usually avoid breezy rom-com's like the plague. It was only because myself and my girlfriend were tired after a train ride on holiday and the place where we were staying had a DVD player and a small selection of titles. Hitch seemed the best option (I wanted to watch Wilde (1997) but we both agreed something easier to watch would be for the best). My instincts usually tell me that film like this will be predictable, annoyingly frothy, and sentimental, although able to raise the occasional smirk. Well, my instincts were pretty much right. Hitch (Will Smith) is a date-doctor who takes on his biggest task yet - to teach how overweight corporate idiot Albert (Kevin James) to romance celebrity Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta), whom Albert has become smitten with. He is also dealing with his own love life - romancing hard-nosed columnist Sara (Eva Mendes). That's it in a nutshell really. Although thinking about it, the film isn't much more than that.
There were moments of this film I enjoyed. Will Smith makes for a likeable actor, breathing sympathy into his rather smug character, and Kevin James, best known as food-loving truck driver Doug in TV's King Of Queens, is amusing as the embarrassing and bumbling Albert. The film is stronger during the scenes when they are together, and only when Hitch begins to delve into his own romance where the film becomes frustrating and rather unconvincing. Eva Mendes' character is just annoying, and I failed to see the attraction that Hitch would have with her, apart from the obvious physical qualities. When the film looks like it's going to stretch it's legs outside of the comfortable rom-com cliche, it sits back in safety and just turns into a bore.
Directed by: Andy Tennant
Country: USA
Rating: **
Tom Gillespie
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