If you can get past the glaring lapses in logic, arrant disregard for story development, and a cast comprised of fairly obnoxious characters, there are a good many laughs to be had in this off-color rom-com from director Roger Kumble (“Cruel Intentions”) and tyro scribe Adam “Tex” Davis. A comedy classic this isn’t, nor is it the clunk-er one might deem it’d be from the looks of the woeful trailer. It’s a film tailor-made for indiscriminating teen audiences and adults with a hankering for a lightweight date movie laden with 90s nostalgia.
Ryan Reynolds (“Van Wilder”) exudes a winning combination of smarm and vulnerability as Chris, an overweight kid who is emotionally scarred from an embarrassing incident in which he reveals his true feelings to his high school crush/best friend Jamie (Amy Smart). Ten years later, Chris has reinvented himself as a lady-killing LA music exec who unexpectedly finds himself home for the holidays with a vacuous Hollywood “It Girl” (a hilarious Anna Faris) in tow. He bumps into Jamie, sparks fly, and Chris sets about trying to finally win her over. Competition for her affections arrives in the form of another former geek turned hunk (Chris Klein). (RATED PG-13. RUNNING TIME: 96 MINUTES)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 23, 2005. Read the original PDF.