"She's Out of My League" provides the perfect scoring system--from dud, to moodle, to hottie--as an ironic self-evaluation, rated, accordingly, from one to ten. For example: Kirk is a five and his girlfriend, Molly, is, as his cohorts deem her, a solid ten. Now, by these merits, that makes Kirk a moodle--definition: male poodle--Molly a total hottie and the film a doddle--definition: sketchy reminder of better films. It avoids dud status and exists, temporarily, as a joyful romp, thus evading the title of moodle, but preeminent hotties, like "Almost Famous" and "(500) Days of Summer," are out of its league.
Kirk (Jay Baruchel) is an awkward normality who seems to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders, which, in due effect, deafens his ambitions. He works two jobs as a security admin at the airport and as a pushover, looking to make others happy. The latter job leads to a profitable encounter with Molly (Alice Eve) who, after misplacing her phone, sees the ten lurking within Kirk and pursues him. His confidence, however, is decimated by the conviction that he is a five on the dating metre--rationalized by his friends: Stainer (T.J. Miller), a shallow six/seven who informs Kirk that he can, at most, jump two ranks, Jack (Mike Vogel), a confident eight, and Devon (Nate Torrence), a rank-less Disney enthusiast, relating situations to "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast."
Do you ever wonder, halfway through a film, be it by insight or pessimism, when the left-turn contrivance will appear? It is questions such as these that stirred in dormancy as I enjoyed the beginnings of "She's Out of My League," which, in climax, makes these worries into a reality in order to traditionalize itself. But, why, may I ask, do these qualms become apparent? It is of little consequence that garbage ends as garbage, but why must the enjoyable end in disappointment? What happened to charmers which never utilized a problem simply for the means of resolving that problem, but for the means to charm? The answers to these questions all have the same answer. Your papers are due on Monday.
