“The “dating doctor”, Alex Hitchens (Will Smith), has turned his own personal heartbreak into a lucrative career. He teaches men the basics of dating and how to attract women with a pretty high success rate. While coaching an investment broker named Albert (Kevin James), who is in love with a gorgeous celebrity client, Allegra (Amber Valletta), Hitch falls for a gossip columnist named Sara (Eva Mendes), who is something of a workaholic and rather cynical about love.
Reviewing a Will Smith movie right now feels strange, but it is what it is. Let’s go back to when Will Smith was still a major box-office draw and hadn’t slapped anyone at the Oscars. Hitch was released in 2005, and I think it holds up pretty well, especially with how dating has changed so much over the past decade. The movie actually has two romantic lines, although Albert and Allegra are designated to the romantic subplot.
Honestly? Kevin James and Amber Valletta should have/could have been the movie’s focus. They had some adorable chemistry, and while Kevin James is not an actor I’ve seen in much beyond Adam Sandler’s fare, he was incredibly affable and funny as Albert. It wasn’t hard to see why Allegra fell for him. I enjoyed their scenes as much as I did Hitch and Sara, maybe even more because there was such an uneven balance to the relationship. Think Long Shot. Unlikely, but not impossible.
Will Smith is very charismatic as Hitch. The role doesn’t require as much physical comedy as Albert, but Smith can still be smooth and funny, even in the face of some truly ridiculous moments – such as having his face swell up after an allergic food reaction. He and Eva Mendes play very well off of one another. While Mendes isn’t exactly known for comedy, she holds her own against the rest of the cast and elicits a few chuckles here and there.
I did read that the studio didn’t want a black woman for the role of Sara, fearing a worldwide issue with a romantic comedy featuring two black actors. They didn’t want a white actress either, too afraid to offend US audiences with an interracial couple – yes, this was 2005! – so they chose a Latina actress to… what… find a middle ground? It’s a rather offensive stain on the history of the movie, which I will blame the studio for. I really want to believe that things have changed in 2022, but I don’t have a lot of faith in Hollywood.
That being said, Mendes, in my eyes, was an excellent choice for Sara’s role. The most important thing in a romantic comedy is the chemistry between the leads; she and Smith have it. Heck, even James and Valletta have it. Director Andy Tennant is a bit hit or miss with his romantic comedies, but I think he did a great job here. It probably helped that he had a funny, clever script to work with and a lead actor who could pull off a certain amount of silliness without ever losing his cool factor.
I think Hitch falls into that pleasantly romantic and likable rom-com category. It won’t blow your mind, but it won’t leave a bad taste in your mouth, either.
