Blu-Ray Review: Disappointing Raunch of ‘She’s Out of My League’

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CHICAGO – Proving that what Judd Apatow has brought to the comedy genre in the last decade is much harder than it looks, “She’s Out of My League” has an extremely likable cast but writers and a director who mistake gross-out humor for genuine laughs. It’s one of those disappointing comedies for people who can’t say the word ejaculation without laughing like Beavis.

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.0/5.0

I really wanted to like “She’s Out of My League.” Star Jay Baruchel has been a highlight of everything he does for years with great, underrated work in films like “Tropic Thunder” and “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.” The set-up for “She’s Out of My League” sounds like the perfect vehicle for this talented, genuinely nice young future star. Sadly, it goes nowhere.

She’s Out of My League was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 22nd, 2010
Photo credit: Paramount Home Video

Baruchel plays Kirk, a sweet kid without many social skills. That can happen when you work as a TSA employee in Pittsburgh. When the film opens, he’s getting over his break-up with the awful Marnie (Lindsay Sloane), a selfish girl still close enough with his unsupportive family that she’s at his home all the time and even goes on their family vacations.

She’s Out of My League was released on Blu-ray and DVD on June 22nd, 2010 Photo credit: Paramount Home Video

Luckily, Kirk has a surrogate family of friends that’s much better to him than his actual blood relatives including the sweet Devon (Nate Torrence), ladies man Jack (Mike Vogel), and obnoxious Stainer (T.J. Miller). Kirk’s life is turned upside down when he meets the stunning Molly McCall (Alice Eve), the kind of girl who only exists in male fantasies. She loves hockey and looks great in lingerie. This “hard 10” falls for Kirk, a self-proclaimed “5.”

Apatow has revolutionized comedy with his pop culture-infused takes on the “hot chick, funny guy” formula in comedies like “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up.” “She’s Out of My League” attempts to replicate that formula but the script by Sean Anders (who made the similarly lowest common denominator “Sex Drive”) and John Morris and the direction by Jim Field Smith aren’t in the Apatow league. They’re more on the level of an “American Pie” sequel.

The script has an unusually jerky quality like a song that’s a bit off tempo. Every time it develops a rhythm, it loses it, something that could have happened after reshoots to add more gross-out humor like a scene in which Devon actually shaves Kirk’s balls. The film only works at all because of the heart brought to it by Baruchel and when the story devolves into bits about body parts then it really loses its way.

To be fair, Baruchel makes it out unscathed and the film would have been a lot worse without him. Krysten Ritter also shines in a supporting role as Molly’s abrasive best friend and Torrence has a sweet comic sensibility. They save the film from complete disaster. There are a few moments that work and I liked the overall sweetness of the piece in that it’s about valuing your self-worth over external appearances or what other people tell you to think but good intentions only get you so far in a comedy that’s not producing actual laughs.

Special Features:
o Deleted Scenes
o Extended Ending
o Blooper Reel
o “Devon’s Dating Show” — A hilarious “Do’s & Don’ts” guide to dating for guys
o Commentary by Director Jim Field Smith

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com