She's Out of My League
She's Out of My League is a 2010 American romantic comedy film directed by Jim Field Smith and written by Sean Anders and John Morris. The film stars Jay Baruchel and Alice Eve, and was produced by Jimmy Miller and David Householter for Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures and filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Production on the film finished in 2008. The film received its wide theatrical release on March 12, 2010. It is the first feature film directed by Smith.
Plot
Kirk Kettner is a TSA officer at Pittsburgh International Airport, along with his friends, Stainer, Devon, and Jack. Kirk is hoping to reconcile with his ex-girlfriend Marnie, to the chagrin of his friends, who point out that she has a new boyfriend and treated Kirk poorly while they were dating. An attractive woman, Molly McCleish, arrives at the passenger terminal to board a flight to New York City. She garners unwanted flirting from several male TSA officers, while Kirk is the only one to treat Molly courteously. On the airplane, Molly realizes that she accidentally left her cellphone at airport security. Using her friend's phone, Molly calls her phone and arranges a time for Kirk to return it to her the following evening.The next night, Devon and Kirk arrive at the Andy Warhol Museum and return Molly's phone, but after Molly's sister accidentally spills a drink on the museum director they are told to leave. Molly, the event's planner, feels sorry about what happened and offers Kirk tickets to a hockey game. Kirk brings Stainer to the game, where they meet Molly and her best friend Patty. Kirk assumes Molly meant to set him up with Patty, until Patty explicitly tells Kirk that Molly is interested in him. Later, Molly directly asks Kirk out and he agrees. Stainer predicts their relationship will fail, as he deems Molly a "10" in a scale of attractiveness, and Kirk only a "5", and the gap is too large to overcome. Separately, Patty believes Molly has only chosen Kirk because he is "safe", after being hurt by her last boyfriend. While on their date, Kirk confides in Molly that he dreams of becoming a pilot, while Molly shares her story of how she was once a lawyer before realizing her love for event planning.
Molly accompanies Kirk to a family lunch, where she charms the men in the home and creates jealousy in Marnie who is quickly ignored by the men when Molly arrives. This causes Marnie to take a sudden interest in Kirk again. After returning to Molly's apartment, Kirk ejaculates prematurely in his pants while the two are making out, just as Molly's parents arrive for a surprise visit. Desperate to conceal the stain on his pants, Kirk seems discourteous by avoiding to stand up and shake hands, and quickly leaves Molly's apartment. Believing he fled to avoid meeting her parents, Molly begins ignoring Kirk's calls. At Jack's urging, Kirk admits the true reasons for his leaving, and their relationship resumes. While celebrating the birthday of Molly's sister, Kirk is troubled when Molly is intentionally vague about Kirk's line of work to her parents. Additionally, Molly's ex, Cam, arrives at her parent's request, and deliberately alludes to Molly having a physical "defect".
After the party, both of them go back to Molly's apartment where they partially undress. Kirk discovers Molly's "defect" is slightly webbed toes, which Kirk considers so minor that he decides that she is indeed too perfect for him. Upset with Kirk over his insecurities and wishing that there was something wrong with her to justify them being together, Molly confesses that Cam had the same problem and ultimately cheated on her. Molly admits she asked Kirk out because she considered him safe, which causes Kirk to break up with her and leave. Afterward, Kirk agrees to resume his relationship with Marnie, and makes plans to attend a family vacation together.
Stainer and Patty realize they caused the break-up by telling Kirk and Molly they were too opposite physically to be together, and agree to work together to fix the mistake. Patty brings Molly to the airport, while Stainer has Jack sabotage the plane so that Kirk cannot leave. Kirk rejects Marnie and meets Molly at the terminal gate, where she confesses her true feelings about Kirk and his insecurities, as well as her desire to be with him regardless. Kirk and Molly then make up and resume their relationship.
Cast
Production
Principal photography for the film commenced on March 31, 2008 at the Mellon Arena, now the former home of the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team. Filming continued in various locations around Pittsburgh until the end of May 2008, including the Pittsburgh International Airport and The Andy Warhol Museum. Mount Washington, the downtown Regional Enterprise Tower, PNC Park, Market Square, Century III Mall, and area sound stages were also used as locations for the film. Pluma's Restaurant in Irwin, Pennsylvania was used for bar scenes when shooting at Mellon Arena became impossible due to the Penguins advancement to the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals. The film was co-produced by Jimmy Miller of Mosaic Media Group, a native of Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania and the brother of comedian Dennis Miller.Reception
Box office
She's Out of My League grossed $32 million in North America and $17.8 million in other territories for a total gross of $49.8 million, against a budget of $20 million.The film opened at No. 3, behind Alice in Wonderland and Green Zone, with an estimated $9.6 million gross.
Critical response
She’s Out of My League received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 58%, based on 131 reviews, with an average rating of 5.56/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "She’s Out of My League has moments of humor and insight, but it’s bogged down by excessive vulgarity and cartoonishness." On Metacritic the film has score of 46 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".Critic Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four saying, "The movie is not a comedy classic. But in a genre where so many movies struggle to lift themselves from zero to one, it's about, oh, a six point five."
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three stars out of four, commenting, "This R-rated blend of the sweet and the raunchy has its heart in the right place." Jake Tomlinson of Shave Magazine gave the movie four and a half stars out of five and praised the movie "for not throwing in cheap obstacles" and for the "good soundtrack."
Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post was less enthused, giving the film one star out of four: "The movie clearly aspires to rise to the smutty-but-sweet synergy of other, better films. But She's Out of My League can't touch them."