She's Out of My League Review

"She’s out of my league”; the words that have kept so many men from deciding to forget their chances to go for any woman they see fit. It’s also the name of one of the most predictable teen comedies of the year.

When the romantically awkward Kirk Kettner (Jay Baruchel) meets the gorgeous and almost perfect girl, Molly McCleish (Alice Eve), he and his friends are surprised when the seemingly impossible happens; Molly is interested in Kirk. Desperate to know how such a miracle landed in his lap, Kirk builds a relationship with Molly while at the same time building a better foundation to his confidence.

It may very well have been the movie’s intention when it came to casting, but Baruchel and Eve have almost zero chemistry together. Then again, even in scenes where they’re shown building a relationship, the viewer will be left continuously wondering just what it is in Kirk that Molly sees in him.

The character of Kirk is frail, timid and has the vocal patterns of someone who wakes up with a hangover every morning. Molly on the other hand has the unique ability to leave people speechless every time she enters a room. After every scene of Kirk’s friends and family members looking at the two together in shock, it will be played as overblown and get old very fast. While Eve remains attractive, she does not have the sex appeal or body language to bat her pretty eyelashes and turn every guy she comes across into a mime.

There’s hardly a situation that the movie doesn’t try to turn into a typical shenanigan, with almost tasteless humour by the end. If you can predict what kind of family and social problems Kirk would have, then congratulations, you must be psychic! Everyone from the glorified older brother to the “why can’t you be more like him” father feels as creative as a cardboard cutout.

Performances in the movie remain very light, along with the script that the actors are working from. It moves so predictably that the screenplay practically resembles that of a maze on the back of a child’s paper restaurant menu. It doesn’t take much thinking to know how to get where you’ll end up.

-Braydon K