Moral Aspect : Acceptable

Technical : Average

Alex Hitch Hitchens (Will Smith) is a professional dating consultant. His services mainly include coaching lonely guys who need professional counseling in dating the woman of their dreams. Hitch's formula guarantees that men who seek his advise would be able to find their perfect match after a date or two. Albert (Kevin James), a shy and pudgy accountant, seeks Hitch's professional assistance in dating his true love: the rich, beautiful and powerful Allegra (Amber Valleta) who happens to own the company he works for. Albert is able to get Allegra's attention through Hitch's advice. From then on, Hitch's expertise is put to a test as he does his best to coach Albert as he dates Allegra. Meanwhile, Hitch's own love life is in shambles. He's fallen in love with gossip columnist, Sara (Eva Mendes) a real looker he meets in a bar. Sara is also smart yet cynical. Will Hitch's "dating expertise' work for his own love affairs? Or will it be more of a hindrance?

Like many romantic comedies, Hitch is light on surprises. The predictability of the plot actually works for the formula. Smith and Mendes look good as a couple, so do James and Valleta. But the real hit tandem in the movie is Smith and James. Their scenes together break the monotonous flow of this romantic date movie. Hitch provides enough laughs and thrills, save for the quite trite ending. The premise is very interesting and its appeal is quite universal to all men the world over. What is interesting in this movie is that it is able to make men aware of the mushiness of romance which is oftentimes associated only with women. With that, Hitch is both entertaining and somewhat "educational" because it teaches valuable lessons to some men who spend a whole lifetime looking for their perfect match.

In love, there are formulas and rules, but at the end of the day, there really are no rules. Hitch works around this moral premise. All is fair (it should be) in love and everyone must be given that chance regardless of one's looks and status. Although it is quite disturbing at first that a man would make a business out of meddling in the affairs of the hearts of other people, Hitch is able to establish his point that sometimes, the world is not fair even in love. So his noble cause is helping only those who are really in love. Hitch's intentions are noble and he does not treat his profession as mere business, but a vocation. Although still, such a service will never be accessible to the penniless. It only means that wealth is nothing without having someone to share it with. In the end, true love always prevails and one with the purest intentions receives the greatest reward.

posted by Tanghalang Anluwage, Inc. @ 12:06 AM