Mark Mylod’s new romantic comedy is little more than a filmed advertisement for glossy women’s trend magazines. Remixing the publishing-driven, marriage-minded focus of 27 Dresses with casual femme raunch of Bridesmaids, What’s Your Number? ends up setting up another, more intriguing question for opening weekend box-office audiences: How many rote, mildly offensive romantic comedies have we been subjected to during our lifetimes? I understand that this query is strictly individualized based on age, film appreciation, tolerance for having your intelligence insulted, etc., but that’s primarily what I was trying to ascertain for myself. And, for the record, I have come to realize that I have no idea what my own personal number is; even discounting the films I have seen over the last decade as a critic and film writer, I am the film equivalent of a slut, maybe even a massive one, so I offer my services and experience here to say that Anna Faris and Chris Evans do their damnedest to make the obvious situations and mind-numbing prattle resemble something that looks and sounds like a little more than just another tale that the fairies would roll their eyes at. She’s funny and displays a willingness to push the joke past the first or second laugh, and he’s got that hint of real sensitivity to match his super pecs and abs that earned him the Captain America mantle. But combined they can’t compensate for the overwhelming negatives in this premise to reach zero sum. Grade: D
Opens wide Sept. 30.
