Hitch

Hitch Information

Hitch is a 2005 romantic comedy directed by Andy Tennant and starring Will Smith. The film, which was written by Kevin Bisch, co-stars Eva Mendes, Kevin James, and Amber Valletta. Smith plays the main fictional character of the film, Alex "Hitch" Hitchens, who is a professional dating consultant who makes a living teaching men how to woo women. The character of Alex Hitchens is based upon the real-life American dating and life coach, David Wygant. The film was released on February 11, 2005 by Columbia Pictures.

Plot

Alex "Hitch" Hitchens (Will Smith) is a professional "date doctor" who coaches other men in the art of wooing women.

While coaching one of his clients, Albert Brennaman (Kevin James), who is smitten with a client of his investment firm, celebrity Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta), Hitch finds himself falling for Sara Melas (Eva Mendes), a gossip columnist who is determined to unmask and ruin the so-called "date doctor" after one of his "clients" had a one-night stand with her best friend. Sara doesn't realize that Hitch refused to work with this "pig" and that all of his clients "like women". While Albert and Allegra's relationship continues to progress, Hitch finds that none of his tried and tested methods are working for him, despite being a master of the art. After Hitch is unmasked, he and Sara break up, and Allegra and Albert follow soon. Finally, Hitch confronts Allegra and convinces her to reunite with Albert, before reconciling with Sara. In the process, he makes the startling discovery that he doesn't really do anything significant besides allowing his clients to get the attention of the woman and giving them confidence, and that most of his customers (particularly Albert) really were successful by just being himself. The film ends with Albert and Allegra getting married as well as Alex and Sara resuming their relationship.

Cast

Will Smith as Alex "Hitch" Hitchens
Eva Mendes as Sara Melas
Kevin James as Albert Brennaman
Amber Valletta as Allegra Cole
Julie Ann Emery as Casey Sedgewick
Adam Arkin as Max
Robinne Lee as Cressida Baylor
Nathan Lee Graham as Geoff
Michael Rapaport as Ben
Jeffrey Donovan as Vance Munson
Paula Patton as Mandy
Ato Essandoh as Tanis

Production

The production budget was $70,000,000. Smith alleged that actress Eva Mendes, a Latina, was offered the female lead because the producers were worried about the public's reaction if the part was played by a White actress (creating a potential interracial taboo) or a Black actress (creating a studio fear that two black leads would alienate the white audiences). It was believed that a Latina and a Black lead would sidestep the issue. Robinne Lee's character (Cressida) was originally offered to Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai, but she could not take it due to scheduling conflicts. The working title of the movie was The Last First Kiss, referring to a line that Hitch delivers to Albert: "This could be her last first kiss". Parts of the movie were filmed in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, at Columbia University, at Ellis Island, in the Fulton Fish Market, at the Wall Street Bull and the North Cove Marina.

Home media

The DVD release was released by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment and was one of the first films to employ Sony's ARccOS Protection copy protection. The film is also available on UMD (Universal Media Disc) for the Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable).

Reception

The film holds a 69% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 179 critics, with an average score of 6.3/10. The sites consensus reads: "Despite Hitch's predictability, Will Smith and Kevin James win praise for their solid, warmhearted performances".