Combustible Celluloid


New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.

movies

50% Off DVD Sale at BarnesandNoble.com! Shop Now.

 
Home | Archive | About | Blog | Lists | Links | E-mail me | Sign up for my weekly newsletter! |  
 



Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
Safe House ***
The Vow **1/2
The Innkeepers ***1/2
The Woman in Black ***
The Grey ***
Man on a Ledge ***
Underworld Awakening **
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos ***
Haywire ***
Beauty and the Beast ****
Contraband ***
The Divide *
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ****
The Devil Inside **
The Iron Lady **
A Separation ***
Pariah ***1/2
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close ***
The Darkest Hour **
More
 



Anonymous
Essential Killing
Lady and the Tramp
La Jetée
Sans Soleil
Story of a Love Affair
3
A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas
2011: The Year's Best DVDs and Blu-Rays
More
 

Film Features

2011: The Year's Best Films
Year's Best DVDs and Blu-Rays
San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards
Interview: Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender
Interview: Simon Curtis
Interview: Werner Herzog
Interview: John Cho
Interview: Roland Emmerich
Interview: Stephen Bishop on Moneyball
Interview: Nick Swardson
Interview: Lynn Hershman Leeson
Interview: Lone Scherfig
Interview: Jesse Eisenberg & Aziz Ansari
Interview: Wayne Wang
Interview: Andre Ovredal on 'Trollhunter'
Interview: Ewan McGregor & Mike Mills
Interview: Kelly Reichardt (Examiner link)
The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival - 2011 Coverage
Interview: Emma Roberts
Rainn Wilson & James Gunn (Examiner link)
Interview: Tom McCarthy
Interview: Abigail Breslin (Examiner link)
2010: The Year's Best Films
2010: The Year's Best DVDs & Blu-Rays
Interview: Sofia Coppola
Interview: George A. Romero
The Decade's Ten Best Films: 2000-2009
My Top 100 Films [Updated]
My Top 60 Directors [Updated]
Christmas Movies
Essential Halloween & Horror Movies
Cult Movies
Actress Interview Gallery
More Features and Interviews
 

Film Books

Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, by Alonso Duralde
Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World, by Judy Stone
James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee
Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis
More Books
 



Home
Reviews A-C
Reviews D-F
Reviews G-J
Reviews K-M
Reviews N-Q
Reviews R-T
Reviews U-Z
 

The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

 
SEARCH MOVIES / CELEB

Advanced Search

 
 
© 1997-2012 Combustible Celluloid



She's Out of My League (2010)

Rating: 3 Stars (out of 4)

Chiding Scale

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Until recently, most romantic comedies relied on some kind of lie or escapade that keeps the protagonists apart for 80 minutes, no matter how artificial or how removed from actual human behavior. The newest batch of Judd Apatow -- and Apatow-inspired -- comedies instead feature a winning combination of inventively vulgar humor on the surface, and earnest sweetness underneath. Even though these movies often involve nerds hooking up with hot chicks, they still focus on characters engaging in a truthful way.

The new She's Out of My League conjures up some of this goodwill, but it's also the movie that begins to reveal the inner workings of the formula; the seams start to show. Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder) stars as Kirk, a skinny nerd who lives in Pittsburgh, never finished college, drives a crappy car and works a crappy job for an airline, moving frenzied passengers through airport security. Gorgeous Molly (Alice Eve) passes through his metal detector and leaves her iPhone behind. Kirk retrieves it, wins her gratitude and a date.

The dramatic friction comes because of the clash between Kirk's nerdiness and Molly's hotness, and the fact that every other character reaffirms Kirk's insecurity (whereas Molly seems to genuinely like Kirk). The movie is a bit too frantic, and it transparently inserts some of the "big money" scenes these movies are supposed to have (a premature ejaculation joke is the centerpiece). However, this is pretty rich battle-of-the-sexes material, and the filmmakers deliver fairly consistent, pleasantly diverting chuckles.


Buy DVD | Buy Blu-Ray
Trailer | Poster
Bookmark and Share
With: Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve, T.J. Miller, Mike Vogel, Nate Torrence, Lindsay Sloane, Kyle Bornheimer, Jessica St. Clair, Krysten Ritter, Debra Jo Rupp, Adam LeFevre
Written by: Sean Anders, John Morris
Directed by: Jim Field Smith
MPAA Rating: R for language and sexual content
Running Time: 104 minutes
Date: March 12, 2010
Please also see my more in-depth review at Common Sense Media | My Las Vegas Weekly Review
Home
New Movies
New DVDs & Blu-Ray
Features
News
Search Reviews
Classic Movies
Film Books
Gallery
Links
About
Contact
All scribblings © 1997-2012 Combustible Celluloid