WHAT'S YOU NUMBER? is a flimsy bit of fluff based on the novel '20 Times A Lady' by Karen Bosnak and transformed for the screen by Gabrielle Allan and Jennifer Crittenden. It is a very light comedy that has some observations about today's dating/quasi-relationship scene, but those impressions are a bit too true to be funny, so it is best to just concentrate on the film as a diversion of the kick back, put feet up, and giggle along with it genre.
Ally Darling (!) (Anna Faris) has a history of having many ex-boy connections who turned out to be losers. Reading an article that offers number amounts for judging sexual encounters (Ally has exceeded the norm) she freaks and believes that she can't find THE good guy. Deciding to reevaluate her ex-encounters searching for Mr Right, she decides to look up all of her exs to see if any of them have changed for the better. Finding this task daunting she turns to her apartment neighbor Colin Shea (Chris Evans), a would-be musician who sleeps with women every night and sneaks out the morning after to avoid relating to them, to act as her detective. The rest is a contrived series of ups and downs of the manhunt that has few qualified candidates. And the end is predictable.
For once Anna Faris has snagged a role that shows her talent (and fingernails-on-the- blackboard voice) and she looks terrific. But the biggest treat in the film is Chris Evans appearing in the buff often enough to keep the movie on: not only does he enjoy his Adonis body but he seems happy allowing it to buff up an otherwise routine comedy part. There is another attraction in the wings - Oliver Jackson-Cohen - who seems to have a future in film. Tuck in the always reliable Blythe Danner and Ed Begley, Jr and this is a cast worth an evening's outing. But the treat on top of the confection is the eye candy generously shared by Chris Evans.
Grady Harp
