'What's Your Number?' Review: Hilarious, Charming

It’s easy to throw two good looking and talented actors into the predictable plot of a romantic comedy and have it turn into one big cheesy mess. On the other hand, it surprises you when you walk into the theatre expecting that cheesy mess and the film turns out to be a hilarious and charming romcom.

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‘What’s Your Number?’ is a story about sex and the single woman, very reminiscent to ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ and ‘Sex and the City’. What makes this singleton story unique is Anna Faris. Faris who has proven herself as one of the most talented comedic actressestoday. Between her ‘Scary Movie’ films and ‘The House Bunny’, she always presents a quirky but lovable character that makes it fun for the audience.

‘What’s Your Number?’ begins as Ally (Faris) wakes up before her boyfriend (Zachary Quinto) and hurries to the bathroom to apply make-up, brush her hair, a scene that is almost identical to Kristen Wiig’s at the beginning of ‘Bridesmaids’. As Ally makes him breakfast, she asks him to be her date to her little sister’s (Ari Graynor) wedding and when he refuses, Ally adds him to her list of other crap ex-boyfriends. Later that day she gets fired from her marketing job, which she never really liked in the first place and starts flipping through a magazine to an article about how women who have slept with 20 or more people are less likely to find a husband. Ally is at 19 and proclaims in front of her sister and all her friends that the next guy she sleeps with is just going to have to be her husband. Well, after a few drinks and maybe a blackout, Ally wakes up next to #20 and decides that she must backtrack and find all of her ex-boyfriends, in hopes that maybe one of them got better with age.

Ally discovers that her womanizing neighbor Colin (frequently shirtless Chris Evans) has some detective skills and she assigns him the duty of tracking down her exes in exchange of him using her apartment as a ‘safe zone’ from his one night stands. Evans shows off his ‘Captain America’ bod in some racy scenes including one with Faris where they are playing a unique game of basketball. Both actors are able to sell this story with their strong chemistry (both comic and sexual). Although it’s easy to tell where their relationship is going, it’s a lot of fun watching them get there.

The casting director gets a win for collecting the actors to play Ally’s exes who include a ventriloquist (Andy Samberg), an eat-a-holic (Chris Pratt — Faris’ real life husband) and a gynecologist (Thomas Lennon), who all add some of the funniest scenes in the movie. Faris can certainly hold her own when it comes to comedy too. One of the most entertaining scenes is when she runs into her British ex boyfriend (Martin Freeman) and quickly has to put on a fake British accent that later turns into more of a ‘Borat’ impression.

A hilarious script and superb cast make ‘What’s Your Number?’ a pleasantly surprising romcom where Faris and Evans are able to turn a cliché story into a charming tale.