Aims high and hits low....but Will Smith entertains

Rating: 6/10 (13 September 2005)

This isn't really my kind of flick, but for a silly, savvy date movie - Hitch isn't all that bad. It's obvious that if it wasn't for Will Smith, this movie would never have been made - but he is clearly cut out for roles like this, and even while sleepwalking; Smith proves that he can still entertain. The film tries to leap over it's obvious layer of 'entertainment' and deliver a message that has far more substance than the film does - namely, that love is blind, anyone can fall in love with anyone, love knows no boundaries blah blah blah. To incorporate this message into the plot, the film has had to smother itself in sentiment, and this is what ultimately brings it down. When will filmmakers learn that to make people care, you have to stay away from sentimentality? The scenes that see the characters open up their hearts are largely painful, and this takes away from the film. Hitch does have a surprisingly large amount of things going for it, mostly springing from the performances, but this all falls flat when it starts trying to deliver it's message...with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer in the face.
The plotting can, at times, make Hitch hard to enjoy. Some plot points are either left out or not explained very well initially, and this means that the viewer has to try and piece the story together themselves as the film moves on, which can be very annoying. The film is also a good twenty minutes too long. Writer Kevin Bisch obviously wanted this film to be more than it is, and that is shown through the aforementioned 'message' and far too many scenes that go on too long. Still, the writing is actually quite good - and scenes in particular that see Will Smith and Eva Mendes bound dialogue back and forth are good and will please the film's target audience. This film is clearly aimed at the casual movie going public, so it's probably a little unfair to criticise this against it's more serious counterparts, so I wont bother. Will Smith may not be one of the best actors of all time; but he's quite clearly a star. Even from his early days in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Smith has stolen scenes and enforced himself throughout, and really; if it weren't for him; this film would have failed.