If You've Got An Itch For Will Smith, Watch "Hitch!"

Rating: 6/10 (17 June 2007)

Charismatic Will Smith plays an ethically-minded, financially-upscale, Manhattan matchmaker in "Hitch," an artificial but entertaining romantic comedy about a guy who earns his keep as a love counselor. "Sweet Home Alabama" director Andy Tennant's new movie recalls earlier dating comedies, like the superlative "Two Can Play That Game" (2002) where the sexes forged surefire rules for the game of love, only to discover that the rules don't guarantee love. Actually, "Two Can Play That Game" goes down a lot better than "Hitch." Feminists won't care for the way that "Hitch" portrays most young women as shallow, passive creatures without a clue who await Prince Charming to sweep them off their feet. The only mature female here is a supporting character who plays a wife that practices psychiatry. She sees through Will Smith's co-star Hispanic beauty Eve Mendes of "Out of Time," a tabloid gossip columnist who wants to expose our protagonist for his perfidy. In other words, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy winswell, you should know by now where this overlong, but frothy, formulaic fodder inevitably takes audiences.
Think of "Hitch" as a chick flick for guys about gals, and you'll appreciate it's contagious, upbeat, effervescent sparkle. This family friendly, PG-13 rated, courtship comedy shuns steamy sex scenes, though it features a couple of chaste morning after scenes. Instead, director Andy Tennant and first-time scenarist Kevin Bisch focus on the pursuit of love rather than the conquest. Generally, plots about the pursuit receive a PG-13 rating, while plots about conquest carry an R-rating for their overt sexuality. Essentially, "Hitch" boils down to a book of rules for guys that date. For example, Hitch explains his clients: "Eight out of 10 women believe that the first kiss will tell them everything they need to know about a relationship."
Several humorous scenes liven up the predictable plot, especially the 90%-10% kiss rule. After a shaky start during his college days as a loser of a Lothario, Hitch turned his life around and discovered his knack for knowing what women want. As a result, he has gone into business as a date doctor, made a good living for himself, but he has not forgotten his ethics. Hitch refuses to coach any cad who only wants a one-night-stand rather than a long-term, matrimonial relationship. One such womanizer tries to take advantage of Hitch, so he can carve a notch on another conquest. An indignant Hitch twists the guy's arm and pins him to a table with a warning never to bother him again. Clearly, Hitch is one of the few big-screen characters that you could invite home to supper without a second thought. He is a nice guy who turns frogs into princes. The principal frog here is a shy, chubby, bespectacled accountant, Albert Brennaman (Kevin James), who cannot keep his eyes off celebrity socialite Allegra Cole (former model Amber Valletta). Sara and her photographer shadow Allegra and snap photos of Albert and Allegra. Suddenly, Albert becomes an overnight celebrity himself, something that he doesn't enjoy. That's about the time that suave, smooth-talking Hitch hits on Sara. Believing the worst about Hitch, Sara suspects that his ethics are no deeper than a gutter, so she decides to bust him. You've seen this nonsense a dozen times before, but the stars make it work.
Happily, "Hitch" redeems Smith after his disastrous sci-fi epic "I, Robot" where he stuck his foot in his Asimov. Interestingly, Smith doesn't pack heat in this picture, doesn't play an authority figure, and relies primarily on his sense of timing and delivery to sell himself and "Hitch." Surprisingly, "Hitch" represents Smith's first foray into comedy since "Six Degrees of Separation" (1993) before he started to impersonate hard-fisted action heroes. Chicago-born director Tennant understands perfectly that nobody can upstage Will Smith, especially when Smith lets his star wattage shine. Mind you, Kevin James gives Smith competition. You know a movie is in trouble when the scenes between the guys are funnier than the ones between the guys and the gals. Nevertheless, it won't be long before sexy Eve Mendes should attain stardom in her own right, like Sondra Bullock, Jennifer Lopez, or Halle Berry. Although she isn't the clown that Kevin James of the TV sitcom "The King of Queens" portrays to perfection, she plays a great misguided antagonist with issues.
As Alex 'Hitch' Hitchens, Will Smith reverts back to his TV days as the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." The "Bad Boys" superstar hasn't shown this spontaneity in years. Even when he's doing nothing more than a comic routine, Smith radiates charisma, especially when he embarrasses himself in a freshman college scene or when he suffers from a food allergy. Clocking in at a little over two hours, "Hitch" could have used some judicious editing. Tennant lets several scenes run overtime after he's made his points. Basically, you see Hitch, Eve, and Albert in their own separate scenes or together. The Eve scenes aren't as funny, because they advance the plot more than the humor. After all, she qualifies as the villain. The scenes between Hitch and Albert look one step away from the famous comedy team of Abbott and Costello. The rest of the cast is strictly there to support these three, and they make their stock characters seem more lively than usual.
If you've got an itch to see Will Smith as you've never seen him, check out "Hitch."