What's Your Number? (Blu-ray)
Lincee Ray
January 26th, 2012
Forty-seven was the number of times I picked up the remote control to fast forward through the boring parts until I remembered that I was reviewing this Blu-ray. Seven was the number of times I was one dish towel away from full frontal nudity. One hundred six is the number of minutes I’ll never get back after watching this movie and five is the rating I give it, mainly because Chris Evans is so darn charming.
WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER is the story about Ally Darling (Anna Faris) and her quest to track down all of her previous lovers. After being dumped, fired from her job and reading an educational article about “what your number means” in a magazine, she runs in to “Disgusting Donald” (played by Faris’ real life husband Chris Pratt) and is blown away that he is not only no longer disgusting, but is engaged to a beautiful rocket scientist. Ally decides to find all of her old boyfriends to see if any are worthy of reconciliation after declaring that her double digit number will not raise any further until she’s married.
Enter her next-door neighbor Colin (Chris Evans) who probably has a number in the three digit range. They strike a deal. He helps her track down her exes while she helps him escape his the morning after. The bulk of the film follows Ally around the city (and sometimes other states) reminiscing about her first encounters with these men. Although we aren’t treated to reunions with all 19 men, there are plenty of flashbacks to help the story limp along.
With every new meeting, the audience learns that Ally chose to mirror the characteristics and hobbies of the guys she was seeing. She pretended to be interested in magic, academics, politics, junk food and whatever else her boyfriend was interested in so they would like her. Of course she’s completely herself with Colin and the two begin to spend countless hours together researching.
I guess the premise of this movie was a good idea on paper. I figure most women would somewhat understand the tendency to pretend to LOVE football when they secretly have no clue why a first down is important. However, WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER tries to shove too much into story. I think if they had narrowed the number down to four, there would have been more time to develop Ally’s relationship with each ex-boyfriend. That would have left more time for her to fall in love with Colin properly too. Instead, they are neighbors who don’t know each other one day and are jumping into the harbor naked a few days later.
There was also a forced side plot regarding her mother’s push for her to date a sensible man, as well as her sister’s wedding. It was a huge unorganized mess and I never rooted for any of the characters. I feel like Anna Faris could be a great comedic actress, but there’s something silly and a bit immature about her that makes me want to roll my eyes instead of laughing. Chris Evans was okay, but I certainly prefer him in a CAPTAIN AMERICA suit.
WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER tried really hard to be edgy and funny, hoping for straight 10s across the board. Instead, the execution was bumbling and boring, garnering a mediocre five.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: 1080p High Definition: This may seem random, but Ally’s apartment was really pretty. I found myself more interested in the set design than the dialog of the characters.
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1: I noticed that I had to turn down the volume when music accompanied the scenes and then turn it back up when it died down. That was highly annoying.
Deleted Scenes (17:05): The last scene “Donald Dances” was really funny. Chris Pratt completely improvised and you could tell that Faris was having trouble not breaking.
Gag Reel (7:15): The reel was sort of funny. I’m always entertained by actors losing their lines.
Sneak Peeks
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