Cast: Anna Faris, Chris Evans, and Ari GraynorRelease date: 7 October 2011

 

 

 

The chick flick: a love child of female centric comedy and romance. The genre is distinctive in the way that it isn’t as emotionally charged as a romantic drama nor does it have the the intense comedic cues of a dedicated comedy. So then why is the genre so appealing despite being theoretically inferior? Well the genre isn’t completely lost and at times is very clever when angled in a specific direction. What’s your number? on the other hand just hasn’t got enough of anything to sustain it.

Ally (Anna Faris) finds herself in crisis when Glamour magazine publishes an article which states that woman who have had more than 20 bed buddies are most likely to stay single for the rest of their lives. To avoid this sad fate, Ally embarks on a quest to find her soul mate amongst her former 20 partners therefore avoiding the supposed terrifying life of a spinster. She forms a mutually beneficial partnership with her philandering next door neighbour Colin (Chris Evans), who assists her mission in return for using her apartment to evade the next morning’s one-night-stand.

The biggest issue that I have with the film is how the rationale is literally a romcom paint-by-numbers exercise.  Instead of improving on a formula, it doesn’t contribute a single bit of substance while failing with it’s ‘tried and tested’ formula. The worst part is how director Michael Mylod tries so hard to squeeze laughs out of the audience but the resulting comedy simply doesn’t push the envelope enough to get more than a forced snicker at opportune places. For instance, when Ally recited a drunk speech at her sisters engagement party, the foundations were laid for what I knew would be a crude film devoid of subtlety or wit.

The plot itself is completely senseless. I’m not a woman and even I was embarrassed by Ally’s moronic gullibility. Alli isn’t an idiot, she proves throughout the movie that she is indeed competent so why then are her motives so imbecilic? There is an obvious reason for breaking up with someone: if they aren’t for you then you move on. Going back to search for someone for the sake of marriage though is absurd. I’m all for the sanctity of marriage but however you get there, everyone has their time.

The acting is there and the potential is great but none of the resources are capitalised on. The chemistry between Faris and Evans is effective but the sloppy writing always seems to trip them up. It’s a sadistic exercise to see how many opportunities for greatness get lost where even the cringe-worthy elements aren’t enough to drop jaws.

With all it’s flaws, it’s hard to recommend a viewing of What’s You Number however if you can move past the conventional plot, sub-par performances and cheesy ending, then this film might be for you – just don’t expect it to be anything special. For a couples night out this film is probably as perfect as they come because whether it’s good or bad, you most likely will only be interested in the person sitting beside you.

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Don’t book your tickets quite yet, my review of Warrior will be up soon and it’s a cracker!