Sunday, July 31, 2005

Oh man, perhaps the weakest third act of the year.

Belongs to (drum roll please)... Hitch.

This was never going to be a masterpiece (obvious from the frames that said "Directed by Andy Tenant"), but the idea behind it was rather charming. A man who aranges to help people meet. Which, as a male is I've sometimes found awkward, and gives the film a relatable premise. And the film builds well on the relationship of Hitch (Will Smith) with the nebbishy but good natured fat guy Albert (Kevin James), and we want to buy his relationship with the heiress Alegra (Amber Valletta), because it's a charming sort of fairy tale. Of course, this begs the question: could you reverse it and have a hot dude and a chubby chick? I don't think people would buy it as readily, hot guys tend to not have soft spots in the same way. Imagine a love story between Brad Pitt and Adia Turturro... Not to dwell too deeply on this, but I think it has everything to do with the objectification of the female in modern society. Is this way too pretentious for an entry on Hitch? SURVEY SAYS: Yes with 87 votes.

But the film has a modest charm until it must get to the third act "Miscomunication that fucks everything up" that allows characters to be mad at each other for no good reason. It's at this point that the meet cute collapses, and reveals the limitations of Eva Mendez, who's easy on the eyes, but doesn't convey all that well. Then again, especially in the third act, things get telegraphed by the people standing next to the main characters who smile when Hitch says something charming or frown when he says something mean. Of all the films that have collapsed under their premises this year, it was this film that really made me feel pissed off with its TV writing stupidity. It's one of those films where you start rewriting it in your head while you're watching it. In five years I think you could remake it, though. Why not?