Hitch

HITCH (2005) - Feb. 3, 2005
This film is essentially entertaining, up to a certain point -- the part (which happens in every romantic comedy ever made) where there's a misunderstanding and it looks like the couple is going to break up for good. Except this movie stretches that part out to a ridiculous length; really, if you have to put this part in a movie (which clearly you do) there is no reason it should be any longer than five minutes. There is absolutely no question that the couple will get back together, so anything longer than that and you really begin to test the audience's patience. It's just so pointless. Well, other than that the performances were good -- Will Smith is expectedly charming as Hitch, and Kevin James is quite funny as one of his clients. The movie is never really laugh-out-loud funny but there are a few chuckle-worthy moments. If they had just trimmed about half an hour (mostly from the aforementioned "fake breakup" part) this could have been a better-than-average romantic comedy. **1/2