Ralph's Movie Reviews: HITCH

Sunday, February 13, 2005

HITCH

Romantic comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Will Smith: Alex 'Hitch' Hitchens, a love consultant
Kevin James: Albert, an accountant with a big New York City firm
Amber Valletta: Allegra Cole, one of their wealthy clients
Eva Mendes: Sara, a gossip columnist for a NYC tabloid

REVIEW
To get your moneys worth, close your eyes if the trailer appears because it includes about half the funny scenes. The whole thing is done is such a light-hearted manner it’s a joy to watch. Sure some of the situations are somewhat exaggerated, but that’s what comedy is all about. A big plus is the ending.

CLASSIFICATION
for language and some strong sexual references.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
While Hitch and Albert are sitting on the steps of some big building, Albert’s suit has a spot on the left shoulder that comes and goes between shots of them talking.

P.S.
The product plug of Grey Goose vodka serves to give this movie an upper-class feel to it. Grey Goose costs way more than other vodkas. Waaaaaaay more. Like triple the price. So it must be the best vodka available people have come to believe. But vodka is a grain-neutral spirit, and by definition is odorless and tasteless. Therefore one vodka can’t be much better than the other so it’s impossible to rationalize the price difference based on quality/taste alone.

But Sidney Frank (the marketing genius who introduced Jägermeister to the North America market) promoted the brand based on the following:
“Grey Goose comes from France, where all the best luxury products come from.
It’s not another rough-hewn Russian vodka—it’s a masterpiece crafted by French vodka artisans.
It uses water from pristine French springs, filtered through Champagne limestone.
It is shipped in wood crates, like a fine wine, not in cardboard boxes like Joe Schmo’s vodka.”

Guess that’s all it takes?

No comments:

my ratings system

I've always thought that telling too much about a movie or warning someone about a "twist" at the end deprives the person the pleasure of seeing it as it unfolds, so I don’t do it. You may not always agree with my rating of course, but at least it is an unbiased opinion unlike some of the full time professional reviewers who are on the studio’s payroll.

A few movies you won’t see any review from me:

Scary movies: I’m the world’s biggest chicken and just hate getting the crap scared out of me. I can handle an unexpected door slam, that kind of thing, but a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat…not for me. Sorry.
Movies geared to the young teen and pre-teen crowd with dialog comprising mostly of crude remarks, awful jokes and lots of rude, socially unacceptable body noises. "The Spy that Shagged Me" comes to mind. (I wonder if the kids know what the British verb to shag someone really means? They probably do; I bet you it’s the parents who haven’t a clue).
Sometimes Hollywood gets on a roll and they produce a series of movies that are all very much alike. For example movies about the CIA were very popular and so we had The Bourne Identity and Bad Company and The Sum of All Fears. They all had the same basic theme and it becomes repetitive. I will see some, but not all of them.

FYI this is my rating system:

0 stars = Terrible: so bad it’s not worth talking about; in fact, I’d pay you not to go
= Lousy: I actually got up and walked out before the end it was just that bad (no kidding)
= Not so good: thought about walking out but hung in just in case it got better (but it didn’t)
= A so-so good movie: I enjoyed it somewhat but wasn’t all that crazy about it
= A really good movie: I recommend seeing it
= An excellent movie you just got to see! I suggest you put it on your "To Do List" it’s that good.

some favourite websites

For those into it, Nitpickers at

has more movie mistakes than you could ever imagine. My contributions can be seen if you check out the Nitpickers Registry and click on the link Nitpickers Listed by Nitpicker Number, select the group 45,401 - 45,500 and drill down to number 45411. Although I have 56 nitpicks to my credit, some have almost 2,000. You wonder sometimes where they find the time to do it.