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A Will Smith movie without
explosions and a fat guy as the romantic lead? Is this the Twilight Zone? Not at
all. In fact, it’s a great date movie with lots of comedy and predictable romance. Don’t
let the predictability get in the way, though, because there are a couple of plot twists
tossed in to keep the plot in Hitch moving along.
Hitch (Will
Smith) is a ‘date doctor’ who helps a guy make a good first impression on a specific
woman, then coaches him through the first three dates. Note: he does not give
them pointers on how to get women into bed. In fact, he turns down clients who are only
interested in sleeping with women. His business is all word-of-mouth, and he’s become a
sort of urban legend. His newest client, Albert (Kevin James), is an overweight,
unsure-of-himself klutz of a junior accountant who’s smitten with his high-profile
client, Allegra Cole (Amber Valetta), who hardly knows that he’s in the room—or working
on her investment portfolio. Hitch doesn’t think he can pull this one off, but he likes
Albert. And since a guy will do anything for another guy he likes, he takes the
job.
Things are starting to go well for Albert when Hitch meets Sara Melas
(Eva Mendes). He uses some of his best tricks to make his own great first impression,
and it works enough to get a first date. But none of the advice he gives his clients
works for him as his dates with Sara all turn into nightmares. For some reason, she’s
starting to like him anyway, and she’s beginning to lose some of her man-hating
tendencies. Then things begin to fall apart.
Sara is a gossip columnist
hot on the heels of socialite Allegra. As she begins to dig into why Albert can land
such a catch as Allegra, she starts to fall for Hitch. She’s also trying to get to the
bottom of the date doctor legend. When she finds out that she’s dating the date doctor,
she blows the lid off of his business, exposing Albert in the
process.
Will Smith is good in this role even if it does seem to be a bit
like his Fresh Prince character. There isn’t much room to really stretch his acting
muscles here, but he has the charisma and charm to make it fun. The real star is Kevin
James. He simply makes you like him from the moment he comes on the screen, spilling his
lunch over the front of his suit. He’s got a genuine charm and approachability to his
character that makes the viewer really want to watch him attempt to win the heart of the
charming heiress. Any guy that’s ever tried to date ‘out of his league’ is going to root
for Albert. Eva Medes does a good job of playing Sara, a woman who’s afraid to fall in
love and hides behind a wall of cynicism to protect herself.
This is a
typical chick flick/date movie. Take it for what it is, and you’ll enjoy the two hours
of fun that this movie turns out to be.
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