Title: What’s Your Number?

Starring Anna Faris, Chris Evans and Blythe Danner (‘Little Fockers’)

Sometimes people have to go through multiple choices to find the best fit for them. Much like her character Ally Darling in the new romantic comedy ‘What’s Your Number?,’ Anna Faris broke society expectation to do what was right for her. While Ally dated the wrong men just to find someone society would approve of, the actress continuously took on ditzy characters that the public has come to recognize her for playing. But both Ally and Faris both finally stood up for themselves and went after what made them happy.

‘What’s Your Number?’ follows Ally as her life begins to crumble on the eve of her younger sister Daisy’s (portrayed by Ari Graynor) wedding. Not only does she break up with her boyfriend and get fired from her marketing job, Ally is still being pressured by her mother, Ava (played by Blythe Danner), to be perfect, like Daisy. But the most damaging blow to Ally’s ego is when she reads a magazine article claiming the more men women sleep with, the less likely they’ll find a desirable, committed life partner.

Seeing that Daisy became engaged to one of her ex-boyfriends, Ally decides to track down all of her previous boyfriends to find her best match. So she hires her neighbor, Colin (portrayed by Chris Evans), whose father was a cop and taught him to investigate, to track down all 19 of her ex-boyfriends and flings. But much to both of their surprise, the two ultimately start to develop feelings for each other.

Throughout the course of her career, Faris has garnered attention for playing ditzy airheads in such projects as the ‘Scary Movie’ series, ‘Just Friends,’ ‘The House Bunny’ and ‘Friends.’ While Ally has her unintentional oblivious moments in ‘What’s Your Number?,’ such as making a drunken toast at Daisy’s engagement party, which ends up on YouTube, Faris is able to show her range as an actress in the romantic comedy. The actress makes Ally relatable in many aspects of her life; she feels her mother’s pressure to live up to her sister’s success personally, while also maintaining a prosperous professional life. While she wants to find a boyfriend who makes her happy, her family and friends look down on Colin, as he’s also struggling to find a meaningful career.

Director Mark Mylod also made a good decision in hiring Evans to portray Colin. While the actor has recently achieved fame for portraying the title character in last summer’s successful superhero film ‘Captain America: The First Avenger,’ he also convincingly made his character realistic. He initially captured the stereotype that men are only interested in one night stands. But as the romantic comedy continues, and Colin starts to get to know Ally more personally as he helps her track down her exes, he isn’t afraid to admit that he’s begun to like her.

While screenwriters Gabrielle Allen and Jennifer Crittenden ultimately didn’t create a unique story for ‘What’s Your Number?,’ Faris and Evans’ chemistry helped make the film memorable. The two surprisingly had a natural comfort level between them, which helped show their characters were more similar than they would like to admit. Both Ally and Colin wanted what makes them happy, and ultimately aren’t afraid to go after it, no matter what the consequences are.

While ‘What’s Your Number?’ doesn’t feature the most thought-provoking plot or messages, both Faris and Evans both moved past their previous note-worthy roles to prove they can relate to real-life issues. Faris, who will always be remembered for her break-out performance as ditzy Cindy Campbell in the ‘Scary Movie’ series, proves that she’s a smart enough actress that she doesn’t always have to play the dumb roles to carry a film. Her chemistry with her male lead counterpart proved that she, like Ally, can have a successful life outside of her comfort zone.

Technical: B

Written by: Karen Benardello