My rating: The perfect date movie

Something's happened since the days when Will Smith was the skinny rapper-kid who did the water pump dance on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and wore a loud mix of yellow and lime green. Somewhere in there, he picked up a rare ability to cross the barriers which prevent some people groups from liking a given type of film, and present something which attracts a wide variety of folks. Or, let me put it this way: I hate chick flicks, but if this is one of them, it certainly hid the fact well.

Smith plays Alex Hitchens, a 'date doctor' who helps total losers get the girls of their dreams. Enter, as the token loser, Kevin James from "The King of Queens." He's about as awkward and inept as a guy can get (and, in the process, side-splittingly funny) and takes lessons from Smith on, among other things, dancing. As you would expect from a chick flick, he wins and loses the girl, and then must win her again. In the meantime, Smith has his own girl thing going on, where he wins and loses her, and must win her again. Sounds pretty standard, huh? As far as that goes, it is. The girls are sold on it. But listen to me guys... this movie is FUNNY. Not just chuckle-funny, but genuinely laugh-out-loud-in-an-embarassing-fashion-funny. I enjoyed it to the fullest, as I guffawed loudly.

There are some analytical elements of this movie that I really appreciated as well, especially when it came to, as we like to say, 'keeping it clean.' There were no gratuitous butt-shots, no steamy and unnecessary sex scenes... in fact, Will Smith's smooth as silk character does not at any point in the movie end up sleeping with his girl, nor does Kevin James. In addition to the sex stuff, there's an overall tone that you don't have to change yourself to become appealing. Sure, Smith is giving advice about how to win a girl. Those changes don't include things like losing weight or growing hair. Kevin James get dancing lessons and a back wax, but Hitch never tells him to lose weight. The movie isn't trying to push the 'you have to be hunky to get a hot girl' thing. It's a real anthem for the average guy.

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