Hitch - Der Date Doktor

In this romantic comedy, Alex 'Hitch' Hitchins (Will Smith) is a legendary but anonymous date doctor in New York City. Hitch advises klutzy male wallflower clients on ways to make good first impressions on the women of their dreams. To contact Hitch, a man must have a referral from one of his former clients. Once Hitch accepts you as a client, he will coach you on your first three dates; after that, you're on your own. Hitch's newest client is Albert Brennaman (Kevin James), a fat tax accountant in love with a celebrity client, Allegra Cole (Amber Valetta). Allegra doesn't know that Albert exists, so Albert contacts Hitch to make his dream come true. Hitch decides to make Albert a client, even though, he knows this is going to be tough. While working on this job, Hitch meets Sara Melas (Eva Mendes), a gossip reporter for a daily tabloid, who is following Allegra's every move. Sara has given up on men, and Hitch wants to cut through that layer, because he is the master of love, so he thinks. With Valentine's Day around the corner, this is a good date movie. Women will love it, and men may pick up a few pointers. The movie is hilarious and filled with verbal and slapstick comedy from beginning to end. There are several scenes that may make you bust a gut laughing. (Columbia, Run time 1:55, Rated PG-13)(8/10)

This film was not about stereotypes, nor dance moves, nor pickup lines, really. This film was about the vulnerability of peoples' hearts. It was hard to believe that Kevin James could play in a convincing role, that Will Smith could satisfy without action, and that such a hackneyed genre of film could succeed in such a way. I don't intend to sound overly endeared with this film - it wasn't "groundbreaking" in any sort of way - but it was a film worth seeing. Was it believable? No. New York couldn't be so simple and there has been no human being in the history of mankind that has the "hutzpah" of Hitch. Sure, there are bar-studs, but not ones that can get any chick, at any time - excluding those raking in seven figures, of course. The thing that worked best for this film was its true focus on the dramatic side of things, not just on the comedy. It was a funny two hours, no doubt. But it was also two hours that made you sit in your seat, become immersed in the characters, and smile.

"Hitch" starts off well, with some genuinely good advice for men and their relationships and introduces to us the interesting characters. Basically the story is about Hitch (Will Smith), a man who knows all of the ropes when it comes to dating women, taking Albert (Kevin James) under his wing. Normally the guy would have as much chance of getting together with the apple of his eye (Amber Valletta as Allegra) as a skyscraper has of surviving a Godzilla attack, but Hitch is a real pro, so love might just be in the air.

I never thought I'd say this… but Kevin James is actually good in this movie. Will Smith is charming as usual, but the both of them really work together. There's chemistry between the actors and there are ample touching, funny and even romantic moments (well, not between James and Smith). When the two male leads are doing their comedic parts, the film is enjoyable and when it's being truthful, it feels genuine. What really hurts the movie is the last third of the running time. The story was deliberately avoiding the usual tropes that romantic comedies always have to labor through… and then it flat-out turns into a generic romance plot. Why was it necessary to include the big misunderstanding, the chase, the earth shattering revelations and the dramatic resolution, all because no one can just sit down, talk and explain themselves to the other people? This is a movie that contains one of my all-time pet peeves because just like in every bad horror movie where the dumb teenagers get themselves killed because either they've never seen a horror movie in their entire lives, or horror movies just don't exist in this film, the people of "Hitch" suddenly all lose their brains and make the same dumb mistakes we've seen over and over. For its good parts "Hitch" is worth seeing but unfortunately it fumbles the ball right before the end and falls just short of being a truly great, original romantic comedy. (On DVD, October 30, 2012)

Hitch is about a man who knows what works with women and teaches the guys who do not do well with them some tricks of the trade. Actually, he more or less walks them through it. Hitch guarantees success up until the dreaded 3rd date kiss. After that, they are on their own. Of course, Hitch finds a girl who he falls for and everything that he thinks he knows does not work out for himself, when following the same guidelines. The movie was a well-written romantic comedy which both guys and girls could have a fun time watching. Perfect for Valentine's Day, which I'm sure was no marketing coincidence it was released on Valentine's Day weekend.

Will Smith is perfect as Hitch. His performance here reminded me of a more mature, possibly grown up Fresh Prince Of Bel Air. He was the smooth talker and was able to read any situation for himself or his clients to make a memorable impression, then have a memorable date with the women his clients are affectionate towards. Sounds a little sleazy, but Hitch has his own rules. He does not help out the guys who want to "Hit it and quit it", so to speak, only those who really seem to like or love the woman they are after. One thing the film never gets into is what Hitch makes for a job like this, as I wonder how much something like that could be worth in monetary value.

Eva Mendes plays Sara, Hitch's love interest. She does quite a good job in her role here. Sara is the type of girl who is always on the defense when approached by men, therefore, is leery of any advances. Hitch reads her well and makes his way in, until she discovers what is is he actually does. For some reason, women tend to take offense to his "job".

Kevin James is also perfect as Albert, a man who is in love with a rich woman named Allegra Cole, but she does not know he exists. His expressions of nervousness and fright are hilarious. Heck, the movie is just a darn good one. Nothing too offensive, a bad word here or there but nothing major. I do not think it warrants it's PG-13 rating, but a plain old PG would be fine for me. Regardless of it's rating, I can honestly recommend Hitch to just about anyone and Will Smith rarely disappoints. 9.5/10

This was a movie that, at the end, I thought "Now that was an enjoyable 2 hours!" I hate spending around $20 (not including baby-sitting $$) for my husband and myself to have that "It was OK" feeling.

I think I like Will Smith better as a comedic actor than an action hero. He was well cast in this. His character was very likable, as was Kevin James'.

There were several laugh out loud scenes. It's also a romantic movie, so guys, if you want to impress the lady in your life, take her to this. Women will like it as much as any chick-flick, but I wouldn't categorize this as one. There is plenty of guy humor in it for men to enjoy. I think that's one of the reasons why this movie is so perfect as a date movie. It has romance AND slapstick. I don't usually like slapstick that much, but it wasn't overdone and I can't think of any those scenes that didn't deliver laughs.

I definitely recommend this movie. The first thing my husband said to me after it was over was "I want to see it again!"