Innocuous Drollery Amounting to Formulaic Date Flick

Rating: Null/10 (13 February 2005)

"Hitch" is Will Smith's romantic comedy debut smash, innocuous, crowd-pleasing drollery, yet hardly flat-out-hilarious, as I found myself puzzled by the lack of edge and energy in executing a perfectly adorable and entertaining premise... Will Smith is the go-to man for advise about channeling and pleasing the inscrutable- women, providing plenty of romantic pick-up tips while not so much reverting to libido-sensual ism as much as emotional connection, provided, with "the woman you love, not the woman you desire to "hit and then quit". A good deal of his advise, many men and women alike, will find to be quite applicable to their own "date scene", e.g. "don't rub too low (sex), too high (friends), go 90 percent and let her go the other 10 on a kiss, get in touch with her inner quirks/deficiencies, etc. etc. etc., and Alex Hitchen's remedies for curing the common man are, well, quite convincing and incendiary. How can you possibly lose with such a delightful premise: Will Smith lending his suavity and drollery as the man with all the answers, Kevin James as his most important client looking to score with a prestigious goddess named Allegra Cole (while boogieing around with erroneous dance moves), and throw in the necessary impossible romance with the gorgeous Eva Mendes (she pledges that dating is not her deal until "HE" comes around, and you have one fine, hilarious, and impeccable two hours of romance and comedy for your money, right? Well, for the most part, "Hitch" is pretty entertaining: Smith, James, and Mendes shine, Hitch plays it cool in giving advise while wooing women himself, and if you're into shtick and slapstick, it never fails to deliver. I suppose my main complaint with "Hitch" is that it plays it overly safe as it progresses: it lacks edge and surprise in its comedy (while the rest of the audience was giggling away, I found myself completely unmoved by "Hitch"'s rather banal comedic attempts), and finds itself lingering forever towards the end in a hackneyed rehash of the same old hokum that compromises most romantic comedies, and one could figure its inevitable resolution a "hitch to the moon" away. I found myself increasingly puzzled as to why "the date doctor" was being assailed instead of being hailed, further confirming men's confusion and predicament with falling in love with women. Don't get me wrong, "Hitch" is certainly not without its share of amusement and entertainment, but it feels too grounded, too conventional, and too innocuous, that it never elevates itself above its obvious premise, and truth be told, like such blockbuster comedy concepts as "Bruce Almighty" and "What Women Want" fails to cover its fruitful premise in a fulfilling way, amounting to nothing more than a romantic comedy that is clever in ideas, yet formulaic in execution. "Hitch" is certain to be THE date blockbuster and romantic comedy of the year, yet it is a shame that in conclusion, I have to objectively say that the funniest, most rewarding scenes were of course, in the trailer. Entertaining and sweet, yet frustratingly formulaic and tepid... **1/2 out of **** ANOTHER NOTE: I noticed that some of the funny scenes in the trailer were completely left out in the movie, leaving me to wonder whether they will be included in the DVD for "curious consumer profit"???