|
Media Critics Magazine? |
|
|
Media Critics Magazine was launched on March 1st 2005!
Media Critics Magazine (MCM) is an internet publication for keeping up to date on Today's music, movies and books. We will be publishing daily reviews on different genres.
We are looking for regular Reviewers/writers in all categories (Music, Books Movies). If you think Media Critics will benefit from your editorial, please contact us at work@infoedit.net.
Although we are an unpaid publication - isn't it fun just to get published!
If you have any queries or questions contact us at critics@infoedit.net
We would love to hear from you.
|
|
|
|
Running Time: 115 minutes
Rating: 7/10
Cast: Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James, Amber Valletta
For all of its comical insights into a distinctly twenty-first century dating world, Hitch
might have been made in 1945. The flinty gossip columnist played
by Eva Mendes might have been played by Katharine Hepburn, and Will
Smith's suave date doctor would have been a part tailor-made for Cary
Grant. These performances, as well as that of Kevin James,
enliven a film that is both expectedly predictable and surprisingly
fresh.
Alex Hitchens, or Hitch (Will Smith) singed by a fickle flame in his
youth, is a thriving romantic guru who wants other men to avoid his
early mistakes. Enter Albert (Kevin James, The King of Queens)--a bumbling everyman who has fallen in love with Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta, What Lies Beneath),
an heiress whose cheekbones are as belief-defying as her name. Hitch
likens Albert to the Sistine Chapel, and serves as the Michelangelo in
the Creation of a New Man. Soon Hitch himself is enamored with a
PR ice queen named Sara (Eva Mendes, Stuck On You), who has
dismissed love as merely tabloid fodder. The traditional
complications ensue when Sara learns Hitch's identity, and also
questions his role in the heartache of her best friend.
Will love conquer all for Sara and Hitch (and for Allegra and Albert)? You probably already know the answer. Hitch
is formulaic, and not without its gaps in logic--why doesn't Sara ever
think to ask Hitch in which kind of "consulting" he specializes? Yet
the film contains equal doses of witty repartee
and genuine emotion. If Hitch doesn't avert the potholes
of romantic comedy convention, its wit and charm often allows the film
to find a pleasing cruise control after it drives out of them.
The subplot of Albert's and Allegra's frog-to-prince romance verges on
male wish fulfillment, but the film avoids sexism. In fact, it
condemns the sleazeballs who prey on Manhattan hotties, and Hitch is
not friendly to one who has tried to enlist his help.
The direction by Andy Tennant is uninspired but solid. There are
several riotous scenes that depict the detonation of romantic time
bombs--for instance, Hitch's lovely-turned-disastrous motorboat foray
with Sara. However, the knockabout comedy routines sometimes
become a little excessive, substituting schtick for wit. Kevin
Bisch's screenplay is varied--there are some clever and funny gems
mixed in with sentimental cliches, and if his characters are never
fully three-dimensional, they still possess inner lives.
Hitch owes a good deal of its success to its performances.
Smith finds the right balance of assured charisma and vulnerability;
his battering down of Sara's emotional defences is completely
viable. James' instincts as a physical comedian are nearly
unerring; his cringe-inducing White Boy Dance has been seen before, but
he makes it seem fresh. As Sara, Mendes is appealing (and
gorgeous). If she doesn't always channel the underlying pain and
fear of her character, she nails the brittleness and anger.
The films makes it clear that romantic formulas are not failsafe. If Hitch is itself overly reliant on formula, it is nevertheless an engaging romantic comedy that would have done Cary and Kate proud.
|
| Rate this article |
|
The number of ratings received is 0. |
Quick Links: Music reviews, Film reviews, Book reviews, Media Critics, Entertainment News
|
|
|
|
|
