WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER? – The Review

Well, it’s time for another trip to movie romantic comedy, or “rom-com” land. This new effort owes a bit to this past May’s smash hit BRIDESMAIDS. Ms Wiig and her crew took some of the rom-com staples and mixed in some of the R-rated raunchiness of THE HANGOVER and Judd Apatow’s (their executive producer) male-oriented hits. The makers of WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER? also want to prove that the gals can be just as lewd and crude while finding Mr. Right. But can they hit a humor home run like Wiig and Apatow did a few months ago? Will they even get on base?

Star of the SCARY MOVIE flicks Anna Faris is Ally, a gal with a lot on her plate right now. She’s the maid of honor at her kid sister, Daisy’s (Ari Graynor of CONVICTION) upcoming wedding who’s also dealing with an overbearing Mom (Blythe Danner of LITTLE FOCKERS). Then she loses her boyfriend (STAR TREK’s Zachary Quinto) and her job (with obnoxious boss THE INFORMANT!’s Joel McHale). On that long train home with her cardboard box of office stuff she reads an article in Marie Clare magazine. It’s based on another of those infinite studies and suggests that prior to marriage the average woman has had 10.5 (?) sex partners and if a woman has had over 20 she has little chance of marrying. Grabbing pen and notepad Ally realizes she’s at 19! And after a boozy bachelorette night she is at the dreaded 20! Well, then her hubby must be one of this group. But how to track them down? Enter the musician/stud living across the hall. Colin (Chris Evans of CAPTAIN AMERICA : THE FIRST AVENGER). In exchange for letting him stay at her place while his one night stands leave, he’ll use his tracking skills (Dad was a cop!) to find her former beaus. Will one of these blasts from the past turn out to be the one? Can she resist this hunky helper? For that matter will he succumb to Ally’s flighty, funky charms? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, then welcome back from that deserted island. Did you see Wilson there?

For a film with such a talented cast WHAT”S YOUR NUMBER? is surprisingly laugh-free. Anna Faris has been following in the footsteps of many cute, funny, flaky movie blonds (from Judy Holliday through Goldie Hawn) for several films (she energized OBSERVE AND REPORT and THE HOUSE BUNNY). She doesn’t have a whole lot to work with here, which is surprising as she’s an executive producer. Way too much of the screen time is devoted to her getting tipsy and making very poor choices. Ms. Faris deserves better. Ari Graynor is another very funny blond (NICK AND NORAH’S INFINITE PLAYLIST), but here’s she’s regulated to being a standard frazzled movie bride (least she’s not a “bridezilla”). Danner’s got a thankless role as another overbearing middle aged movie Mom (ease up on the mom-bashing Hollywood!). Evans should balance his big action roles with funny leading man roles, but he’s saddled with some lazy,lifeless banter while the film makers try to spice things up with many, many shots of him almost in the buff (strip basketball followed by skinny dipping!). The actors playing Ally’s past flings don’t get much of a chance to shine. Martin Freeman, so terrific in the original British “The Office,” is wasted as a straight man to Ally’s dialect antics. Faris’s real life hubby Chris Pratt, hilarious on TV’s Parks and Recreations, is reduced to wearing a NORBIT-like fat suit for a flashback sequence. Only Andy Samberg (of TV’s Saturday Night Live) scores in the film’s funniest 30 seconds as Ally’s first. After he’s gone feel free to hit the restroom or concession stand. Don’t want to spoil things, so I’ll just say that there’s a great vocal cameo from another TV funnyman in the movie’s last moments. So what happened? These talented actors can do only so much with a hackneyed script ( Eight year old kids dropping the F-bomb! Ooo! How edgy! ) and direction that relies on such cliches as sped up and slowed down footage and twirling shots looking up at office buildings. There’s even a big romantic scene set at an empty sports venue. Lazy movie making. After those BRIDESMAIDS had me in hysterics a few months ago I was looking forward to another raunchy female-centric laugh fest. Still waiting.

Overall Rating: 1 out of 5 Stars