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Star cast: Anna Faris, Chris Evans, Ari Graynor, Blythe Danner, Ed Begley Jr., Oliver Jackson-Cohen.
Plot: Anna Faris discovers that the average American woman sleeps with only 10 men and she has already slept with 20. She goes back to her ex-lovers in an attempt to find out if any of them are marriageable. Chris Evans, her Casanova neighbour, is helping her in this task. What next?
What’s Good: A few comic scenes; Chris Evans’ performance; the hint of nudity that might excite some.
What’s Bad: The tepid and predictable script; the slow pace and the overly long running time; the lack of on-screen chemistry between Anna and Chris; the liberal sex-life depicted which will not be liked by a section of the audiences.
Verdict: What’s Your Number? falters in the story department and that is its undoing.
Loo break: Several, once you realise the obvious pattern of events in the screenplay.
Watch or Not?: Watch What’s Your Number? if you are a fan of chick flicks/casually-made romantic comedies.
Contrafilm and Regency Enterprises’ What’s Your Number? is a romantic comedy about a young girl, Ally (Anna Faris), and her search for true love.
During the pre-wedding celebrations of her younger sister, out-of-job Ally reads an article that says that the average American woman sleeps with just 10.5 men in her lifetime. Having slept with 19 people already, Ally is a nervous wreck and realises that it’s time for her to tie the knot. But she decides that she can sleep with just one more guy, someone who’ll be her Prince Charming. However, the very night she decides this, she gets drunk and sleeps with her ex-boss. Now she is in a fix – she has to maintain the status quo on the number of people she has slept with. Which means that she has to trace and evaluate all the 20-odd people that she has had sex with. Helping Ally in this is her Casanova-turned-investigator, Colin (Chris Evans), who hides in Ally’s apartment every morning to escape coming face-to-face with the girls he has slept with the previous night. There is also Daisy (Ari Graynor), Ally’s younger sister; her mother (Blythe Danner); and a group of girlfriends who take keen interest in Ally’s love life. How Ally and Colin trace the men from her past, how she feels about them now, and what she ends up with forms the rest of the drama.
What’s Your Number? Review: Script Analysis
Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden’s screenplay, based on Karyn Bosnak’s 20 Times A Lady, is based on an interesting but very thin premise. After a point of time, the drama gets repetitive, with Ally and Colin going over the whole process again and again – they flirt and then look for an ex-boyfriend, they flirt and they look some more. A little comic relief is provided in the form of the secondary characters – Ally’s mother, and some of her ex-boyfriends. Otherwise, with Ally and Colin’s chemistry not going great guns, the audience is left alone grinding their teeth. Compounding the malaise is the leisurely pace of the narrative and the long running time. The film is also replete with clichés – the alpha-male who tries to woo the girl; the jealous fights between the protagonists, etc. The climax is predictable; the dialogues, for the most part, are tiresome. Following in the tradition of the recent spate of Hollywood sex-comedies, What’s Your Number? has multiple semi-nude scenes that look good but do not fit into the larger scheme of things. Overall, the script has some appeal for the Indian youngsters but fails to entertain.
What’s Your Number? Review: Performances & Technical Aspects
Anna Faris tries hard to make her performance believable but the script lets her down. Chris Evans shines as the guitar-playing nudist lover. Ari Graynor and Blythe Danner make an adorable pair. Ed Begley Jr. (as Mr. Darling) deserves special mention. Oliver Jackson-Cohen (as Ally’s ex-boss) is fair. Dave Annable (as Jake Adams) is effective. The rest of the cast supports well.
Mark Mylod’s direction is rather poor because he manages to lose the plot of the film and make it less interesting and entertaining than it should have been, in spite of the good performances. The background score, by Aaron Zigman, is alright. Cinematography, by J. Michael Muro, is eye-pleasing. Editing, by Julie Monroe, should have been sharper.
What’s Your Number? Review: The Last Word
On the whole, What’s Your Number? entertains in parts but fails as a whole package. It will not be able to get anywhere at the Indian box-office.
