What’s Your Number? (2011)
Certified: 16
Duration: 106 minutes
Directed by: Mark Mylod
Starring: Anna Faris, Chris Evans, Joel McHale , Blythe Danner, Ed Begley, Jr., Andy Samberg, Zachary Quinto, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Chris Pratt
KRS release
What’s Your Number? is a poor man’s attempt (or should I say woman’s?) at a female-oriented raunchy naughty comedy.
The film rolls on like an insane locomotive
This film is the latest in series of attempts to catapult Anna Faris to superstardom. As a rule, she aims for naughtiness, spouts all her words but never manages to talk the talk.
So far Ms Faris has been given bit parts, headlined spoof movies or starred in light comedies the likes of The House Bunny.
What’s Your Number?, which Ms Faris also produces, is a tired affair and lacks a likable central character. Even though she appears in every frame, Ms Faris simply does not have the screen presence to carry the film.
She plays Ally Darling, a young woman who reads an article and realises the extent to which it talks about her. The article explains how a woman who has had sex with 20 men and still finds herself single has probably lost her chance as her one true love was probably one of those 20.
Ally makes a list and realises that she is at number 19. She decides not to have sex with anyone until she is sure that number 20 will be the one to take her to the altar.
During her younger sister’s Daisy (Ari Gaynor) engagement party she gets outrageously drunk and ends up sleeping with Roger (Joel McHale), her boss who has just fired her.
Ally then comes up with a plan to revisit all her previous 19 sex partners to find out which one of them was the perfect love she let slip away. Needing some help, she recruits macho neighbour Colin (Chris Evans). In exchange, he wants her to provide a place to stay in the mornings while his one-night lovers leave his apartment.
Ally tracks down the likes of old college boyfriend “Disgusting Donald” (Chris Pratt) who is now very slim, aspiring politician Tom Piper (Anthony Mackie), the very British Simon (Martin Freeman), puppeteer Gerry Perry (Andy Samberg) and also Jake (Dave Annable) who seems to be perfect… and very rich.
In between tracking down all these men from her past, she starts to develop what may be feelings for Colin while her mother (Blythe Danner) pressures her to settle down with Jake.
The film rolls on like an insane locomotive trying to squeeze out the laughs. Two-thirds of the way through, the film suddenly veers off track and opts for some sweet romantic drama; this transition continues to add layers upon an already confused story.
This leads to one situation after another which is quite embarrassing to watch as Ms Faris delivers one inane line after the other. Mostly, the film lacks a focal point around which to revolve.
Chris Evans is just there to show off his abs while Blythe Danner is pathetic as the concerned mum.
The main problem lies in Ally’s character: She is not sweet but rather abrasive, not likable but coarse, not adorable but simply blank.
Romantic comedies live and die by the characters that populate them and whether they will make the audience care for their happy ending.
In this case I found it hard identify with any of the characters or empathise with them at all, and that in itself is the worst reaction this kind of film can elicit.