Holiday movie programming is a lot like Holiday food sales. Any idiot can sell a stale fruitcake on December 24th, but only the most appealing Easter egg will find a buyer in May. Romantic comedies released for Valentine's Day face a similar challenge. Bad ones can succeed, but only the strong will linger. This year brought \Hitch"" for the 14th, and like the sweetest Cadbury Egg, the new Will Smith vehicle should still be appealing with the holiday gone by, thanks largely to its dynamic star.
At his best, Will Smith is equal parts Cary Grant and Bugs Bunny. His career has been built on a rare ability to maintain his distinctive charisma and humor under almost any circumstance, from a Bel Air mansion to multiple alien invasions. He's not a great actor, but is a spectacular performer because he is funny and accessibly cool-all of which makes it unbelievable that he's never before done a big-screen comedy that didn't involve weapons and explosions. It is not surprising then that ""Hitch"" sees Smith at his best-loveable, funny and as effortlessly charming as Grant at his peak.
The movie stars Smith as Alex ""Hitch"" Hitchens, a professional date doctor who helps romantically clumsy men learn to woo the women of their dreams. He finds perhaps his greatest professional challenge when he is hired by Albert Brennamen (Kevin James), a dumpy accountant enamored with high-profile heiress Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta). Meanwhile, Hitch faces his own difficulty, when a fledgling romance with jaded gossip journalist Sara (Eva Mendes) makes him lose his cool and puts his discrete business in jeopardy.
""Hitch"" is a bit long, and struggles with its dueling romantic storylines and dubious female lead, but the irresistible Smith and surprisingly loveable James keep it afloat. Together they form a more appealing on-screen partnership than the couples in most romantic comedies, which extends to this one, too.
But because Smith is so convincingly cool and James so awkward, the movie rises above its flaws and above the expected ""black guy teaches white guy to be cool."" Instead, the movie finds not only humor, but genuine sweetness in the bond and shared humanity between the loser and the ladies man.
The only real blemish to the movie is Sara's character, both as written and acted. While Hitch's back-story is incorporated thoroughly enough to explain how he can be so interested in helping others find love while not pursuing it for himself, Sara's character is flatly cynical with no warmth. Mendes compounds this by playing the character as though coldness were a good thing, sadly contrasting the effective humanity she brought to the bleak landscape of ""Training Day.""
The rest of the supporting cast performs well when director Andy Tennant (""Sweet Home Alabama"") remembers them. Valletta and Julie Ann Emery sweetly handle their limited screen time. Meanwhile, somewhere out there is an episode of ""Without a Trace"" explaining what happened to Michael Rapaport's character after his one and only scene as Hitch's best friend.
But for all its stumbling in structure and characters, ""Hitch"" ultimately delivers the goods. Like a first-time confectioner, Tennant is clumsy and inefficient, but sweet in his failings before he finally gets the order right. While ""Hitch"" may not be substantial, Will Smith makes it a treat sweet enough to outlast its usefulness for the Hallmark holiday.
