Hitch is a charming, but crawling, romantic comedy

Thursday, February 17, 2005

One week after The Wedding Date showed audiences the sleazy side of romance, Hitch arrived in theaters with a lighter and more effective look at love.

Hitch isnt without its flaws, but an enjoyable cast and a couple of charming relationships are enough to make this a surprise.

Will Smith takes a break from fighting aliens to play Hitch, a New York date doctor who specializes in helping nerds and geeky guys nab the women of their dreams.

Hitchs latest client is Albert (Kevin James), a tax accountant who is smitten with a wealthy heiress (Amber Valletta). While Hitch is helping Albert woo the heiress, he falls for Sara (Eva Mendes), a gossip columnist with a jaded idea of romance.

A movie like this only goes as far as the four actors, and Hitch is fortunate to have a very talented cast. Smith and Mendes have nice chemistry, with Mendes giving one of the best performances of her career.

James makes a nice transition from the TV series King of Queens to lovable sidekick and Valletta is convincing as Alberts love interest.

Director Andy Tennant does tend to keep the film stuck in gear in several instances, and could have shaved at least 15 minutes off the nearly two-hour running time, but the chemistry between the four actors is just so bright it overshadows the films shortcomings.

Romantic comedies work when they feature a relationship that is interesting, and Hitch is fortunate enough to have two relationships. Its not a perfect movie, but is sure is a lot of fun.

Discount dandy of the week

This weeks discount dandy is Oceans 12 (B-), an amiable sequel that doesnt really add much to the original, but does manage to have a feel-good nature and charm to it. Some may see the film as being a little too tongue in cheek, but I have to admit that I found Oceans 12 mildly enjoyable.

Oceans 12 picks up with casino owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) hunting down Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his group of thieves responsible for the last heist, portrayed in Oceans 11.

Benedict blackmails the group into pulling off a series of European jobs to help pay back the money they stole from his casino with a hefty amount of interest included.

Im not really sure if a follow-up to Oceans 11 was really needed, but I must admit, it is fun to see the entire cast which also includes Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, Julia Roberts and Bernie Mac back together. They all seem to be having a lot of fun and that good cheer manages to transfer to the audience.

The screenplay also has its moments especially a nice gimmick where Roberts character pretends to be Roberts as part of the con.

Oceans 12 opens Friday at the Plaza 6, where all movies are $1.50.

Sportswriter/movie reviewer Micheal Compton was too busy finalizing his Oscar picks for next weeks article to come up with a clever tag line. If you have suggestions, or inside info on whos winning best director, e-mail him at mcompton@bgdailynews.com

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