There are millions of films out there. In this vast spectrum of cinema, for one of them to stand out from all this gray mass, that movie certainly has to be different and unique, but it should also possess certain qualities to it. With comedies one such quality should be good comedy, and surprisingly, Jim Field Smith's She's Out of My League has just that. It isn't laugh-out-loud-funny, but it makes you chuckle sometimes with vulgar language and a few witty one-liners. If this would be the primary attempt of this film, to make people laugh, it would be an alright picture. I'd probably give it a mild thumbs up and wish Smith good luck with his next attempt in filmmaking. Comedy-wise, you can expect of this movie the same as you could from a new Judd Apatow-produced comedy, except without the working dramatic scenes.
However, She's Out of My League does not want to make you laugh. Oh no. It tries to have a message in it. And boy, do they screw up with it. The film tells the story of an average joe named Kirk, who through a small series of random happenstances ends up dating with a big-chested blond woman named Molly. His friends constantly make remarks of how he is too ugly, insignificant and everyday for a woman who, despite apparently being a lawyer, has the IQ of a baby chimpanzee. Soon enough Kirk begins to believe in this himself, starting to apply a rating-system his friends use to value their own lives. If you've ever seen someone say that a person is, a five out of ten, or something of the like, you know the system. Certain things in your personality and looks give you higher points, and certain things take them out. A great ass and round tits guarantee you a good rating, whereas looking like the guy who plays WoW in his mom's basement gives you a rating as big as the one I gave this film. Little and meaningless things, such as personality comes in in the form of single characteristics, such as being in a band or owning a really cool car.
I think we can all agree that the use of such a system to rate a person, even in the form of joking, is terrible, shallow, superficial and incredibly offensive towards those being rated and mostly a confirmation of how mentally disfigured those are who use it. I strongly believe this film should make a point of this. It doesn't. In the end, as you may predict, the system is thrown out the window. But the movie never discredits it in any way. It essentially says that for loose relationships, one night stands and for some, entire lives can be founded around it, rather than being wholly useless. You can call me a sentimental fool for essentially calling a film bad because I disagree with it's message, but come on. We, the human race, can not assert ourselves into this universe with the presumption that we can survive, let alone evolve, as a species if we base our very existence around the concept of superficiality and looks. She's Out of My League makes a point of this system not being good for Kirk or Molly, but being a very fitting way of life to some. This is a message that is simply inexcusable. If even some of the people in this world would live like this, we would have all died of disease long ago as the silicone-implanted Pamelas of the world would have taken over as captains of industry.
