Hitch - Der Date Doktor

What - a Will Smith movie with nothing blowing up? I was all prepared to hate this movie. I mean c'mon, a chick flick with Will Smith? It seems Will Smith can only play one character - himself - but in this one he tones that down and comes across as a real human being.

I was so surprised by this movie. I ended up laughing through the whole thing and came to care for and relate to all the characters.

There was NOTHING about racial stereotypes. It wasn't about a black guy teaching a white guy to dance at all. It was about a bunch of characters who legitimately grow from the first scene to the last.

Take you girlfriend and go!

Hitch is about a man who knows what works with women and teaches the guys who do not do well with them some tricks of the trade. Actually, he more or less walks them through it. Hitch guarantees success up until the dreaded 3rd date kiss. After that, they are on their own. Of course, Hitch finds a girl who he falls for and everything that he thinks he knows does not work out for himself, when following the same guidelines. The movie was a well-written romantic comedy which both guys and girls could have a fun time watching. Perfect for Valentine's Day, which I'm sure was no marketing coincidence it was released on Valentine's Day weekend.

Will Smith is perfect as Hitch. His performance here reminded me of a more mature, possibly grown up Fresh Prince Of Bel Air. He was the smooth talker and was able to read any situation for himself or his clients to make a memorable impression, then have a memorable date with the women his clients are affectionate towards. Sounds a little sleazy, but Hitch has his own rules. He does not help out the guys who want to "Hit it and quit it", so to speak, only those who really seem to like or love the woman they are after. One thing the film never gets into is what Hitch makes for a job like this, as I wonder how much something like that could be worth in monetary value.

Eva Mendes plays Sara, Hitch's love interest. She does quite a good job in her role here. Sara is the type of girl who is always on the defense when approached by men, therefore, is leery of any advances. Hitch reads her well and makes his way in, until she discovers what is is he actually does. For some reason, women tend to take offense to his "job".

Kevin James is also perfect as Albert, a man who is in love with a rich woman named Allegra Cole, but she does not know he exists. His expressions of nervousness and fright are hilarious. Heck, the movie is just a darn good one. Nothing too offensive, a bad word here or there but nothing major. I do not think it warrants it's PG-13 rating, but a plain old PG would be fine for me. Regardless of it's rating, I can honestly recommend Hitch to just about anyone and Will Smith rarely disappoints. 9.5/10

Will Smith is Alex "Hitch" Hitchens, a long-time bachelor who has become known as the New York City "date doctor" who charges to help men get the women of their dreams. Although he helps all these other men, he somehow is not able to have nearly as much success with Sara (Eva Mendes), the woman he himself loves.

Hitch is a safe yet funny and entertaining romantic comedy. The premise sounds pretty good and the execution is also pretty good. Yes, it is very predictable and kind of cheesy. However, that doesn't mean it isn't entertaining. I think Hitch is better than most romantic comedies that have come out in the past year because the characters are likable and Smith & Mendes have enough chemistry together to make the film work. Will Smith is very charming as Hitch. He plays the role well and he never gets annoying. It's also nice to see him in a film that doesn't involve a bunch of things blowing up. Eva Mendes also gives a pretty good performance and she is also very pretty.

Surprisingly, the best thing about Hitch is Kevin James. His performance is funny and also pretty realistic. The only problem is that most of his scenes appear in the trailer and this lessens the effect. I never really liked him before but now I hope he makes more movie appearances. Out of the four main actors, Amber Valletta is the weakest. She gives an average performance and she just doesn't fit well with the other three. The rest of the supporting actors are also pretty funny, especially the customers that ask Hitch for help.

The only problem I really have with Hitch is that it plays it too safe. If it was a little more edgier than the film could have been really good but it still stands an enjoyable romantic comedy. It's not really surprising that the film is safe since Andy Tennant is the director. He directed It Takes Two and Sweet Home Alabama. He's like the king of harmless, fluff films and Hitch is his best work to date. Another thing that bothered me was the running time. 118 minutes is too long for a predictable story and it does take a toll on the audience. I think it's bad since the story is by-the-numbers and the film takes awhile to reach obvious places. If it was a little shorter, than it would have been fine. In the end, Hitch is an enjoyable romantic comedy and one of the funniest films I have seen this year. Rating 8/10

"Hitch" starts off well, with some genuinely good advice for men and their relationships and introduces to us the interesting characters. Basically the story is about Hitch (Will Smith), a man who knows all of the ropes when it comes to dating women, taking Albert (Kevin James) under his wing. Normally the guy would have as much chance of getting together with the apple of his eye (Amber Valletta as Allegra) as a skyscraper has of surviving a Godzilla attack, but Hitch is a real pro, so love might just be in the air.

I never thought I'd say this… but Kevin James is actually good in this movie. Will Smith is charming as usual, but the both of them really work together. There's chemistry between the actors and there are ample touching, funny and even romantic moments (well, not between James and Smith). When the two male leads are doing their comedic parts, the film is enjoyable and when it's being truthful, it feels genuine. What really hurts the movie is the last third of the running time. The story was deliberately avoiding the usual tropes that romantic comedies always have to labor through… and then it flat-out turns into a generic romance plot. Why was it necessary to include the big misunderstanding, the chase, the earth shattering revelations and the dramatic resolution, all because no one can just sit down, talk and explain themselves to the other people? This is a movie that contains one of my all-time pet peeves because just like in every bad horror movie where the dumb teenagers get themselves killed because either they've never seen a horror movie in their entire lives, or horror movies just don't exist in this film, the people of "Hitch" suddenly all lose their brains and make the same dumb mistakes we've seen over and over. For its good parts "Hitch" is worth seeing but unfortunately it fumbles the ball right before the end and falls just short of being a truly great, original romantic comedy. (On DVD, October 30, 2012)

I saw this movie screened last night, and you know what? I liked it. For the most part, it's a by the numbers 'chick flick', but makes no pretensions to be more than that, and in fact, is very good for what it is.

The easy thing to do would be to take potshots at this film; throw out things like 'Fresh Prince', 'getting jiggy with it', and even throw around the whole 'black dude making a white dude cool' angle; but that's too easy isn't it? Like shooting fish in a barrel.

No, this isn't a Wes Anderson film. The humor is rather broad, though much it very funny. Of course you won't see it up for an Oscar (what a tired joke that is); nor does it contain Quientin Tarantion-esquire dialogue or groundbreaking visuals.

But taken for what it is, a romantic comedy, it really is very good. Great chemistry between all the leads. Eve Mendes is gorgeous. And Kevin James steals nearly every scene he's in. It gets a bit sappy towards the end (don't all mainstream romantic comedies though?), but if you're looking for a above average date movie with more than a few belly laughs, this is your film.

A solid B+.