Unsurprisingly, “What’s Your Number?” adds up to nothing more than another recycled, predictable romantic comedy. As I watched the main character count her number of hookups, I couldn’t help but count the number of rom-com clichés I have paid $6.75 to sit through.
But the film’s risqué plot and humorous script do help subtract from its predictability and add to its charm. Star and executive producer Anna Faris plays Ally Darling, a quirky but lovable woman who hasn’t had much luck with love. With 20 different sexual partners, Ally is alarmed to read a magazine article that states the average woman has only 10.5 partners, and that women with more than 20 partners rarely get married. Determined to get her happily-ever-after, Ally decides to track down all of her exes and find “the one” so her number doesn’t exceed 20.
From the British ex she fakes an accent for to the gynecologist ex who recognizes her not by her face but by her — oh, never mind — Ally’s ex encounters provide genuine laughs. However, not much else about the film is redeeming. There’s little chemistry between any of her love interests, and the movie should have shown more encounters with exes than it did. The rest was just formulaic filler.
For someone as naturally funny as Faris, it would be nice to see her in a role that makes the most of her talent rather than one that restrains it with forced acting from a generic script. Even this film had so much potential to be different from other rom-coms. But aside from the swearing, nudity and R-rating atypical of rom-coms, “What’s Your Number?” still turned out to be a repackaged film worth a one-time watch only.
As in most films of its kind, the leading lady spends the entire movie searching for Mr. Right in all the wrong places, only to realize the one man she thought was Mr. Wrong turns out to be right for her after all. Cue Chris Evans. Evans plays Ally’s hunky, womanizing next-door neighbor, who helps Ally track down her exes and in the process slowly becomes closer to her. No spoiler alerts here — you all know how it inevitably ends.
Faris’s character may find her happy ending after 20 duds, but one more movie flop like this and Faris’s days on the silver screen surely are, well, numbered.
