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Hot chicks be warned: over the next few weeks, you may find yourselves mobbed by overconfident geeks who firmly believe that they have a chance of going out with you. Don’t worry; you haven’t suddenly gotten fat or ugly—or whatever it would take to bring you down to their level (which, of course, is way beneath you). It’s just that they’ve seen She’s Out of My League.
When geeky TSA employee Kirk (Jay Baruchel) meets gorgeous party planner Molly (Alice Eve), he knows that she’s way out of his league. His friends know it. Her friends know it. Even strangers who see them on the street know it. But apparently she doesn’t know it—or at least she doesn’t care. She’s been hurt by gorgeous, successful guys before, and a lovable loser like Kirk is just what she needs.
Even after they become a couple, though—and Molly has made it clear that she really does like him—Kirk can’t seem to get over the fact that (as his friends continually remind him) he’s maybe a 6 and she’s a “hard 10.”
And that’s pretty much all there is to She’s Out of My League. Most of the film revolves around everyone’s shock and utter disbelief that the two are together. Her ex mistakes Kirk for a waiter—or maybe he’s her gay friend. His family wonders (out loud) whether she’s really just a prostitute. Her parents are mortified. His parents are thrilled. Everywhere the two of them go, guys gape at Molly and congratulate Kirk for pulling off the impossible. Meanwhile, he’s uncomfortable and insecure and just plain geeky—which gets him into all kinds of cringe-worthy situations.
Like the story, the characters, too, are shallow and one-note. Kirk is the stereotypical scrawny loser with a dead-end job and a bizarre family. Molly is hot. And blonde. And she doesn’t wear underwear. Neither one has any personality to speak of, nor do any of their friends. From lovable chubby guy Devon (Nate Torrence) and crude, obnoxious Stainer (T. J. Miller) to Molly’s ditzy sister (Kim Shaw) and ruggedly handsome ex-boyfriend, Cam (Geoff Stults), they’re all one-note stereotypes.
It’s no real surprise, then, that it all gets old after about an hour. For a while, it’s mildly entertaining, but there’s no real story to tell, and there aren’t any real characters to care about. All that’s left are some crude, sophomoric gags that go on way too long. It just keeps getting more and more awkward until it comes to a clichéd ending that—no surprise—is just as shallow as the rest of the film.
While frat boys might enjoy its crude sense of humor—and geeky guys might appreciate the story—everyone else will want to avoid it like the pimply paste-eater from math class.
