Contando a mis Ex

a friend invited me to a screening of What's Your Number the other night and i went, but thought it was going to be lame. It wasn't! the trailer is so bad - why is it so bad? but the movie is funny! i swear, there are parts that are still making me chuckle days later.

Anna Faris is darling. Chris Evans not as boring as you think he's going to be - he's actually quite charming. (and his body is sick, but that's beside the point.) They have good chemistry and the banter between them is hysterical. they say the things that you think and would never dare to say out loud, which made me laugh and laugh. some people might find that offensive, like my mom, but i'm not recommending this movie to her.

i am recommending it to my girlfriends though. i see a lot of movies and this is waaay better than that No Strings Attached or horrible Justin Timberlake rom-com. this one is cute and has some really funny lines.

also - it's a fun shopping movie. i covet her apartment, i want to go to Boston in springtime, and it made me want to dig up some of my 80's music. is it winning an Oscar? no, but it's cute. i don't think you'll be disappointed.

WHAT'S YOU NUMBER? is a flimsy bit of fluff based on the novel '20 Times A Lady' by Karen Bosnak and transformed for the screen by Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden. It is a very light comedy that has some observations about today's dating/quasi-relationship scene, but those impressions are a bit too true to be funny, so it is best to just concentrate on the film as a diversion of the kick back, put feet up, and giggle along with it genre.

Ally Darling (!) (Anna Faris) has a history of having many ex-boy connections who turned out to be losers. Reading an article that offers number amounts for judging sexual encounters (Ally has exceeded the norm) she freaks and believes that she can't find THE good guy. Deciding to reevaluate her ex-encounters searching for Mr Right, she decides to look up all of her exs to see if any of them have changed for the better. Finding this task daunting she turns to her apartment neighbor Colin Shea (Chris Evans), a would-be musician who sleeps with women every night and sneaks out the morning after to avoid relating to them, to act as her detective. The rest is a contrived series of ups and downs of the manhunt that has few qualified candidates. And the end is predictable.

For once Anna Faris has snagged a role that shows her talent (and fingernails-on-the- blackboard voice) and she looks terrific. But the biggest treat in the film is Chris Evans appearing in the buff often enough to keep the movie on: not only does he enjoy his Adonis body but he seems happy allowing it to buff up an otherwise routine comedy part. There is another attraction in the wings - Oliver Jackson-Cohen - who seems to have a future in film. Tuck in the always reliable Blythe Danner and Ed Begley, Jr and this is a cast worth an evening's outing. But the treat on top of the confection is the eye candy generously shared by Chris Evans.

Grady Harp

What's Your Number simply is better than most rom-coms. It's a lot of fun, and puts some sizzle into the shizzle by giving it a little bit more sexyback than most. It's saved by two cute lead performances, a solid script, and a nod to the world that life ain't the 1950s anymore.

We really enjoyed this - it has a lot of heart, some genuine laughs, nothing too crude, it's sassy, even sexy, without being anything dangerous, and it's main plot device - what if you could go back and meet all your Exes - is one that has to ring true with a wide swathe of people.

All in all, if you like rom-coms then this is going to be exactly what you like; it makes you feel romantic, like true love is possible, and does so without being either prissy or crude; and it scores points for pointing out what really matters in life.... all in all a fun outing that both the heart and the mind can enjoy.

Do you looooooove Rom-Coms? Do you looooooove Anna Faris? If the answer is yes to either, then you can add at least another star or two to this rating.

For me, rom-coms are just too damn predictable and therefore never going to get above a six rating (unless you're talking unconventional genre spasms like 500 Days of Summer).

However taking into account I don't like rom-coms, this is the highest rating one of these films will get from me. Anna Faris is extremely likable as ever and Chris Evans is very funny and probably a perfect specimen of man in the eyes of many an audience member.

Watch the trailer and you'll know how it ends but the journey provides the kind of rude laughs and romantic moments in iconic locations that are becoming ever more familiar in the modern rom-com.

Like the recent Friends With Benefits (not bad) and the hilarious Bridesmaids, What's Your Number? is ruder and funnier than many older rom-coms with hand-job jokes, potty-mouthed dialogue and a female character who is liberated, crude and played by a star who is definitely not too shy or vain to embarrass herself.

As Faris' character searches for the perfect man among her twenty ex-lovers, cameos from Martin Freeman and Andy Samberg maintain interest but it's Faris and Evans that provide the real laughs and chemistry.

Nothing new if you're not a rom-com fan but ticks all the boxes for the target audience and keeps the genre headed in a dirtier direction.

Just a fun-fun-fun movie about a girl looking for her one, not in the usual way, and a boy finding his one without even looking for.

Anna Faris gives an excellent performance, and I have never known before that Chris Evans can be not the nice guy for once.

Although the plot may be a bit unrealistic, the acting is so great you forget it's just a movie and get sucked right into a pure fun, that kind of fun that leaves you in a good mood for at least half a day/evening.

SO NOT just another rom-com. You'd better give it a try if profanity is something you can live with!