Film For Thought

Back in the 80s, the closest a geek got to scoring a hot chick was if he managed to create Kelly LeBrock on his computer. But in 2010 you'd frankly be shocked if the latest Seth Rogen character doesn't have a beautiful blonde such as Katherine Heigl, Amber Heard or Elizabeth Banks hanging off his arm. This time around it's Jay Baruchel's turn to make a play for a girl way out of his league, hoping his nerdy charms will do just enough to suspend disbelief during the course of the running time. It's a relief then that this nerd has charm in abundance, a quality his curvy co-star Alice Eve obviously shares.

It's thanks to the leads that Brit director Jim Field Smith's debut feature just about passes as entertaining, despite possessing a script that appears to have undergone a rewrite too far. The supporting cast seem to have suffered the most - either their potential subplots fail to come to fruition or their parts descend into little more than caricatures - while elsewhere a handful of gross out scenes really jar in a film that for the most part appears to have its heart in the right place. It's actually quite refreshing though to see a rom-com devoid of any cynicism, and I'd much rather see a Baruchel-type get the girl than the likes of Gerard Butler any day of the week.

Verdict: Though lacking originality, Baruchel and Eve make enough of an impression to suggest this may be merely a stepping stone to bigger and better things.