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The tired
and recycled romantic comedy genre
has taken another beating with the release of Mark Mylod’s What’s
Your Number? which plays as a mash up of crass humour and
underdeveloped characters. Pushed back from an April release, the film
will no
doubt have hard time competing with the likes of Bridesmaids
or Friends With
Benefits, with both films enjoying success through the use of a
clever
script, interesting characters and an avoidance of clichés. What’s
Your Number? possess none of
these factors.
The
flimsy excuse for a plot introduces us to
Ally Darling (Anna Faris) and the complete breakdown of her personal
and
professional life. When Ally catches a glance at a recent Marie Claire
article she
has a meltdown. She reads that the statistics of meeting Mr. Right
decrease
severely with the number of sexual partners one has had. Following her
sister’s
engagement party, where she sleeps with her twentieth beau, Ally goes
on a
quest to look up all her ex-boyfriends for ‘the one’. Helping her in
this
bizarre endeavour is her next-door neighbour Colin Shea (Chris Evans),
who
tracks down her potential future-husbands in exchange for shelter in
her
apartment whenever he needs to hide from his numerous one-night stands.
What
ensures is a sequence of blasts from the past, as Ally tries to
navigate the
complications of relationships, while dealing with her own unexpected
feelings
towards Colin.
The
premise of the film is its most outstanding
weakness. What woman in today’s modern age takes advice from a magazine
and
attempts to apply it to reality? We have all grown to love and cherish
Faris’
caricatures of airy and clueless women but in this piece the humour is
overwhelmingly lost to inconsistencies regarding realism. This is a
romantic
comedy but the genre should not be an excuse to cut out believable
characters
altogether. It is not only Ally that bears the brunt of this misfortune
but
also Chris Evans’ character Colin. The hero of the film cannot be a
deadbeat
musician who hides from women and is perfectly comfortable answering
the door
naked. Although there are enough shirtless moments of his chiselled
physique, there
are not enough redeeming qualities for Colin to worm his way into our
heart. This
combination of unsympathetic leads makes for a contradictory foray in
modern
day single life.
The
supporting cast is quite delightful and
Blythe Danner as Ally’s mother is representative of all mothers who
have only
the highest expectations for their children. The numerous ex-boyfriends
who pop
up throughout the film are relatively funny, although the focus of the
film is
fixed firmly on the bourgeoning connection between Colin and Ally. The
film has
many comedic moments, with a laugh out loud scene with Faris
impersonating a
British accent. In general however, the film spirals into penis and
vagina
jokes that don’t have any impact and take away from the sporadic
instances of
true humour. Ultimately, What’s Your
Number? is another example of fluff romance churned out of the
Hollywood
machine. It has enough funny occurrences to last you to the end but it
is not a
film that will stay with you. Faris is of course her brilliant self but
even
her wide-eyed expressions can’t save this piece from sailing into
mediocrity.
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