September 29, 2011 by Stephen Holden
Mining Past Boyfriends for Husband Material (You Never Know)
If nothing else the ramshackle, scatterbrained rom-com “What’s Your Number?” confirms the arrival, heralded by “Bridesmaids,” of a new subgenre, the smutty chick flick, into the Hollywood mainstream. The girl talk of Ally Darling (Anna Faris), a rude, free-spirited bachelorette in her 30s who is still looking for “the one,” and her friends involves breezy jokes about penises and vaginas.
Comparing notes with her pals, Ally is chagrined to discover that she has chalked up the highest number of lovers: 19. Spooked by a bogus survey claiming that 96 percent of all women who have slept with 20 or more men never marry, she enlists her hunky, roguish next-door neighbor, Colin Shea (Chris Evans), to help her track down the guys in her past. In her goofy fantasy, she imagines that one of them might propose and keep her number from hitting the dreaded 20. In exchange for helping her locate them via
computer, Ally allows Colin, a struggling musician, to hide out from his dates the mornings after his one-night stands until they have left his apartment.
Although the movie is a mere wisp of an idea, sloppily developed, it is a serviceable platform for Ms. Faris’s zany Fourth-of-July sparkler fizz and pop. Ally never really has the blues, even in the most humiliating circumstances. A gal pal in the pal sense of the word, she is gung-ho for all sorts of fun and games. She’s the one who suggests to Colin that they play strip basketball, the better to show off his abs, and she is thrilled when he suggests they spend an afternoon watching Mexican wrestling on television. Mr. Evans spends half the movie with his shirt off.
“What’s Your Number?,” which is based on Karyn Bosnak’s 2006 novel, “20 Times a Lady” (Ally has an unaccountable fondness for the songs of Lionel Richie), was adapted for the screen by Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden and
directed by Mark Mylod. Especially in its early scenes, it seems headed in a much raunchier direction than it eventually takes. When it settles down to the business of getting Ally happily partnered, it loses its nerve and succumbs to chick-flick shamelessness as Ally is given the choice between two dreamboats.
A subplot involves the coming wedding of Ally’s more proper younger sister, Daisy (Ari Graynor), to another dreamboat (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), and the disapproval of Ally’s wayward behavior by the sisters’ snobbish mother, Ava (Blythe Danner). Her exes, including a puppeteer who is shown in an amusing flashback bringing his puppet into bed with Ally as a third party, are a mostly pathetic lot.
“What’s Your Number?” doesn’t know when to quit. Once it subsides into squishy wedding pornography, it is all but unendurable.
“What’s Your Number?” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying
parent or adult guardian). It has explicit sexual humor and nudity.
WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER? opens on Friday nationwide.
Directed by Mark Mylod; written by Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden, based on the book “20 Times a Lady” by Karyn Bosnak; director of photography, J. Michael Muro; edited by Julie Monroe; music by Aaron Zigman; production design by Jon Billington; costumes by Amy Westcott; produced by Beau Flynn and Tripp Vinson; released by 20th Century Fox. Running time: 1 hour 46 minutes.
WITH: Anna Faris (Ally Darling), Chris Evans (Colin Shea), Ari Graynor (Daisy Darling), Blythe Danner (Ava Darling), Zachary Quinto (Rick), Joel McHale (Roger), Chris Pratt (Disgusting Donald), Mike Vogel (Dave Hansen), Martin Freeman (Simon), Andy Samberg (Gerry Perry), Thomas Lennon (Dr. Barrett Ingold), Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Eddie), Anthony Mackie (Tom Piper) and Jake Adams (Dave Annable).