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Is it worth $10? Yes
“What’s Your Number?” is based on the incredibly false pretense that women, once they reach a certain number of sexual partners, are no longer desirable for marriage. Too promiscuous for a guy to take home to mom and dad, we’re told. But given that this is a romantic comedy, let’s offer the benefit of the doubt to the stupid premise and get down to what really matters – whether the film is funny and charming – and how well it succeeds in that more important regard.
In a word, moderately. The extremely talented Anna Faris (“The House Bunny”) plays Ally, an attractive, unlucky-in-love and recently fired young woman who can’t seem to find Mr. Right. After learning that 96 percent of women with 20 or more lovers never find a husband – and realizing that her number is right at 20 – Ally convinces herself that she’s already met the man of her dreams and let him get away. Find him wow him and don’t let him go this time, she thinks.
For help in tracking down her lost loves she enlists womanizing neighbor Colin (Chris Evans), a struggling musician with no prospects but is apparently good at finding people. Ally and Colin don’t think they’re attracted to one another, but spend time together and get along, yada yada yada.
Director Mark Mylod’s relatively thin storyline plays like individual sketches as Ally finds her exes, with some hitting better than others. The good: A recurring cameo from Faris’ real-life husband Chris Pratt as “Disgusting” Donald, and Faris dons a delightful British accent that goes awry when trying to reunite with Brit Simon (Martin Freeman). The bad comes when she travels: What happens with Tom (Anthony Mackie) in D.C. is painfully obvious, and a trip to Miami for a gynecologist (Thomas Lennon) never hits its mark.
The supporting cast, which includes Blythe Danner as Ally’s mom, is fine, and darn if seeing Faris’ smokin’ hot body in her underwear (frequently) isn’t easy on the eyes. But if that’s all you want she’s done plenty of magazine spreads, so “What’s Your Number?” needs more.
A word about the ending. There’s just no way. Sure it’s a movie and fantasy trumps reality, but asking us to swallow what this is shoveling is akin to having a car salesman look you in the eye and tell you you’re getting a fair price. You’ll want to believe it, but you’ll know better.
Did you know?
The voice you hear on the answering machine in the end is Aziz Ansari’s (“Parks & Recreation”).
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