Movie Review: What’s Your Number?

Why is it that for women in general, the number of dates becomes an issue when their age comes to the “marrying- zone”? Is it because having less seems to impress others as being “more pure” in the eyes of the marrying guys? On the contrary, for guys in general, the number of dates becomes like the number of trophies they brag about with other guys and many are even too damn proud of having more.

What’s Your Number is the newest comedy flick presented by 20^th Century Fox. It stars Anna Faris whose comic talents are quite distinctively different and are now starting to capture a wide range of comedy audiences. Her fame was first recognized in the Scary Movie series, having the character perfectly depicting the typical, dumb blond girl and later eventually landed on other movies such as Lost in Translation and a TV guesting in Friends.

This film is about Ally Darling, who’s undergoing a life transition. After being fired from her job and being caught up in the fiasco of her younger sister’s upcoming wedding, she suddenly hits rock-bottom. Ally starts to realize how depressing her life of sex and lousy romances over the years is. With 19 guys and no serious relationship to brag about, everything begins to sink in. Being pressured by her high statistics, she vowed not to sleep with another man until she is sure that he is the “right one” for the long haul.

Chris Evans, the Boy Scout hero of recent blockbuster film Captain America, plays the character of Colin Shea, Ally’s gigolo neighbor, who likewise has the reputation of enjoying having “short-term” relationships. His romantic life with the opposite sex only lasts as his libido does as it wears down the next day after a whole night under the sheets. He uses Ally’s apartment as a refuge to escape from the girls he sleeps with and returns the favor by helping Ally track down the past dates she had in her pursuit of the “right one”. 

Adapted for the screen by Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden and directed by Mark Mylod, this film is actually based from the 2006 novel by Karyn Bosnak entitled, 20 Times a Lady. The film is a sex comedy and rated R. There were skin exposures which were not bad since Anna Faris has a pretty darn body to boot, rated #57 by Maxims in their 100 hottest female celebs.

The funniest and most memorable part in the movie for me is the bed scene between Ally and the Geeky Puppeteer.  Being Ally’s first sex-date, her experience was more like “discovering” and not knowing what to enjoy and which made the scene hilariously awkward.  What makes this scene even funnier is her puppeteer date. While doing his weird pathetic humping actions, he suddenly pulled out his puppet (in-character) and made it a third party audience. That made me spill my guts out laughing because I used to be a puppeteer myself many years ago.  (For the record, I didn’t bring my puppet to any of my dates!)   

I’m quite surprised that according to some reviews, this film did not receive a lot of attention from the public viewers in the US and that it didn’t even get a spot in TV ads. Nonetheless, I’m sure this movie would still find a niche all over the world in many viewers who like to watch comedy films.