You may not think you know who Jay Baruchel is by name, but you have undoubtedly recognized him in a number of Apatow productions or perhaps even his memorable turn in Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby. His gawky frame and nice guy hang-doggedness is more than a suitable fit for the misfire that is She’s Out of My League, a wholly belabored film that doesn’t trust its audience enough to let the humor of the premise to permeate gradually. Instead, it goes for countless crass and easy jokes that have done dozens times before. The movie is afraid to try and that’s very disconcerting…

She’s Out of My League is basically a nerd wish-fulfillment film that if played out with a hint of dramatic zeal would be a palpable idea. As a dumb comedy, it shows its ineptitude from nearly the get go. Baruchel plays Kirk Kettner, a young adult who pines for an ex-girlfriend who prefers to keep him around as a friend. Adding insult to injury, she spends more time with his family than he does and brings around her new hunky boyfriend. This sets up Kirk as a doormat early on and who doesn’t like to cheer for a sad sack doormat? Anyway, he has a “meet cute” with Molly (Alice Eve) who is a stunningly beautiful woman who sees an all too apparent kindness in Kirk’s squinty doe eyes. She truly seems to enjoy him and his company. What’s wrong with this picture? Kirk wants to know.

Fortunately, he has three friends who act as his gurus and keep him grounded for another potential heartache. The scenes where he’s interacting with his bros (especially T.J. Miller who plays the gregarious Stainer) are the highlights. It’s in these scenes where you’re reminded how friends interact with each other. It doesn’t feel forced or contrived (most of the time). The same sentiment cannot be said for the majority of the film.

Along the way Kirk will deal with spoiled older brothers, Molly’s disapproving friend and the inevitable super macho ex-boyfriend. All of these characters are broad caricatures of real people which tends to be the problem with most formulaic comedies. You deal with a bunch of “types” that only act the way they do to further surface the plot. The fact the plot is maligned with all the requisite clichés, only makes the film a double whammy of inertness. Nonetheless, Baruchel and the indeed stunning Alice Eve make a game effort to pull the wool over our eyes. Eve who I remember being smitten with in Starter for Ten pulls off the American accent easily and has an uncomplicated sweetness attached to a thriving model’s looks and body. If anything else, she’s easy on the eyes. Jay Baruchel can play this type of role in his sleep (he arguably has done so during his stint on the short lived show Undeclared), so this is easy hat for him. The issue isn’t with the leads.

After last year’s success of The Hangover, it seems that studios are bending backwards to find the next R-rated blockbuster comedy. She’s Out of My League appears to be the next contender for that particular title, while Hot Tub Time Machine will be coming up soon thereafter. As much as I felt Hangover was grossly overrated, like League, they did manage to make the camaraderie between the male leads seem believable. The interaction between them was the movie’s strength. Somebody should make a movie with just a bunch of friends hanging around chewing the shit and riffing off each other sans convoluted and contrived situations. Too boring? It beats scenes of people racing to catch planes and ball shaving any day. Is it asking too much to want plausibility to go with your comedy? I guess so.