Film Review: What's Your Number?

Upon reading an article which says that "96% of women who've been with twenty or more lovers can't find a husband", perpetual singleton Ally (Faris) makes a commitment not to add to her total. Instead Ally decides to track down her twenty ex-partners in the hope she may have overlooked Mr. Right way back when. Across the hallway lives resident man-whore Colin (Evans) whom Ally employs to help find said exes on account that he knows how to use Facebook better than her.

What's Your Number? is a mashup of recent romcoms like Bridesmaids and Friends With Benefits featuring a girl unlucky in love who has some bizarre secret creative talent which turns out to be her true calling in life and a big soppy 'you're the one' speech at the end. You can expect every cliche in the book here and the outcome is inevitable where from the first moment Colin appears onscreen you just know he'll be lucky number 21. To be fair to this however it does have its comic moments in spite of its banality. There are laughs to be had as Ally ambushes her ex lovers, particularly one involving a puppeteer played by Lonely Island star Andy Samberg. However Ally's trip down memory lane does nothing toward understanding where she went wrong in the past nor teach her any lessons about her own inability to form lasting relationships. Indeed, one might expect a little introspection from a film of this nature.

Still, Faris is charming enough with her infectious enthusiasm but it is the permanently topless Evans who injects most into proceedings. While both are likeable, their blossoming romance dogmatically follows every trope in the genre. Perhaps the best thing about What's Your Number? however is how ironically nonchalant it is, despite its rigid adherence to the romantic comedy formula. Yes, it's stale, but it remains breezy and light mostly throughout. That is until things start to get particularly tedious toward the end where a wedding setting sees proceedings devolve into a shameless chick flick as Ally must choose between two handsome men. It also goes on for far too long where the most galling number of all is not how many men Ally has slept with but the film's runtime.

While this might strike a chord with the modern woman's concerns, this is more trite than anything else. Ultimately however it is inoffensive and while there's a twinkle from its affable stars, the concept has been done to death. As such this is more a disposable giggle than a self-affirming simulacrum for all the single ladies out there.