Review: 'Hitch' is one smooth operator

Posted Thursday, June 16, 2005 at 3:50 PM Central

by John Couture

Perhaps rarer in Hollywood these days than Roman Polanski is the holy grail of movies, the film that speaks to both men and women. Jerry Maguire has it. Women dig the romance, while guys get to watch football under the guise of a chick flick.

Hitch is one of these special movies. It not only connects to women with the strong lead performance from Eva Mendes, but it also hooks the guys with one of Will's opening lines. "Any man has the chance to sweep any woman off her feet." It's the eternal male fantasy that drive men into Carl's Jr. to purchase yet another Spicy BBQ Six Dollar Burger. The fact that they too might have shot with Paris Hilton simply by choosing one burger joint over another is the same proposition that draws men to Hitch like flies to a bug zapper.

But don't feel too sorry for us, ladies. We're rewarded with a smart, biting comedy that features a brilliant performance from Kevin James that leaves us wanting more. Not to mention, Eva doesn't look half bad in a wetsuit.

For those of you out there that remember Will Smith p-WWW (pre-Wild Wild West), then this movie shouldn't surprise you. Will is a funny man. Those who grew up on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air know what I'm talking about. For the younger set, let me apologize for Wild Wild West and implore you to give Will the comic actor another chance.

The movie is a no-brainer, but the DVD also delivers more punch than one would think at first glance. The specs on the package seem to indicate a pedestrian offering that many studios are movie towards, but upon closer inspection, this DVD is overflowing with goodies that will have you "getting' jiggy with it" far longer than you hoped for.

VIDEO The 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation is crisp and really complements the stunning palette of colors that director Andy Tennant uses to soften up the usual New York City grime.

Overall, the video aspects of the DVD are average, but for this type of movie, you really don't need anything too crazy since there isn't a whole lot of action and most of the movie is driven by the witty dialog and outrageous situational humor.

AUDIO The 5.1 Dolby Digital is a standard inclusion for the movie. The sound brings New York to life especially during the Kevin James chasing Allegra sequence and the Will Smith chasing Sara scene. Also, the score and music play a huge role in setting the mood and tempo (as demonstrated through the alternate opening sequence, which we'll get to in a minute) and the 5.1 Dolby Digital track is more than up to the challenge. The inclusion of a DTS track isn't necessary and would only take valuable space away from the interesting extra goodies. SPECIAL FEATURES As mentioned earlier, upon first glance, there really doesn't appear to be much to offer in terms of Special Features on this disc, but once you delve into the DVD, they're like the Energizer Bunny, they keep going and going.

The Blooper Reel segment should be a standard feature on all comedies, especially ones featuring such great improvisational comics. In particular, there is one sequence where Will is addressing Eva through a full mouth of food. Even though, the shot is wasted, Will continues to deliver a variation on the scene that even has the extras laughing in the background.

While the breadth of deleted scenes (there are really only two) is lacking, the quality is definitely top notch. The first scene in which Hitch runs into his old flame Cressida opens up a whole new layer to the movie that as Andy Tennant explains in the introduction was written out as the movie progressed. But the inclusion of this scene shows where the storytellers were thinking of going and the level of depth that they were aiming for.

The other scene involves a hilarious sequence with a boat full of tourists and Ellis Island. The scene may have been cut to insure a PG-13 (not that there is anything overtly over the top in it), but the result is the movie loses a little humor by not being in there. It's one of the highlights of the disc and I'll leave it at that.

The five featurettes really complete the enjoyment process of this movie by providing a look into the process of making this movie. "Dance Steps Made Easy" and "The Dating Experts" really dissect the movie and give the subject matter greater weight.

The "1 Thing" music video and the movie previews are a nice, but almost standard inclusion for these types of movies. If you're into Amerie or you're the type of person who arrives at the theater 30 minutes early so as to insure that you don't miss a single preview, then you'll be appeased.

RECOMMENDATION

This was a tough one. I almost dropped the Buy recommendation on Hitch. And don't get me wrong, if you do purchase this DVD you won't be disappointed in the least. The movie will hold up to repeat viewings and will certainly help the men in the audience earn some extra points when they will inevitably need them.

It's just, with only two deleted scenes and the hint at a completely abandoned storyline, I feel that there is a special edition version brewing somewhere. I would wait to buy that incarnation, but take advantage of a chance to enjoy a funny movie and rent it today!