Hitch: The Cure for the Common Man

(Herald rating * * *)

Actor and rapper Will Smith has come a long way since becoming famous in the 90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Smith has mastered the action hero (Independence Day) and the sports hero (Ali) but this is his first romantic comedy, and you have to wonder why it took so long.

He's confident and charming, so it's not a stretch for Smith to pull off this role as Alex Hitchens, a savvy, All-American nice guy working as a modern-day matchmaker for more-than-usually inept men. At college Alex was plump, geeky and clumsy. But then he fell in love, had his heart broken, and morphed into a trim, stylish and articulate man claiming to know more about women than his fellow man.

We're not sure how this transformation occurred, considering Alex has avoided relationships since his heartbreak. But this is a Will Smith film so there's no point in getting hung up on detail.

As the Date Doctor, Alex believes any average guy can sweep the woman of his dreams off her feet, as long as he has the right broom - and he's just the guy to help provide that broom.

With some sound advice about listening and responding to women, and not-so-sound stunts to get the unsuspecting girl to notice they're actually alive, Alex manages to get his clients to the third date (the kiss date - apparently it all hangs on this date, guys) and then leaves them to it.

With a high matchmaking success rate Alex is a wanted man around New York. Then along comes Albert Brennaman (James), a clumsy junior accountant who has fallen in love with the beautiful, wealthy and highly unobtainable socialite Allegra Cole (Valleta). He hasn't spoken to her yet so there's quite a bit of work to do.

While attempting to unite these two potential lovebirds, Alex finds himself falling for the beautiful gossip columnist Sara Melas (Mendes).

As hard as it is for romantic comedies to overcome the predictability of the genre, Hitch: The Cure for the Common Man makes an attempt by appealing to men as much as women, and creating moments of unpredictable hilarity, taking us by surprise and reminding us to pay attention.

The script is as cheesy as you'd expect, but Mendes and Smith pull it off with utterly charming performances.

CAST: Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Amber Valleta and Kevin James
DIRECTOR: Andy Tennant
RUNNING TIME 118 MINUTES
RATING: M (offensive language and sexual references)
SCREENING: Village, Hoyts and Rialto