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I was excited to watch the 2005 Will Smith film Hitch because it was a romantic comedy with a twist. Instead of being told from the point of view of a female character, as is usually the case with these kinds of movies (thus the term "chick flick"), Hitch would be from the guy's point of view. Plus, there was a lot of buzz surrounding the screenwriter, Kevin Bisch, because he was new to the game and was able to make it to the big leagues with just his third script ever. These two factors were enough to get me to rent Hitch the other evening.

Smith stars as Alex Hitchens, a so-called "Date Doctor" who works with men to help them navigate through the notoriously challenging New York City dating scene. Hitch coaches his clients on how to act, what to say, and, most importantly, how to listen to the women they go out with. What makes Hitch different from, say, a Cyrano de Bergerac, is that he doesn't put specific words in his clients' mouths. He guides them, but in the end, the clients are on their own for their dates. So the women they're with see the real personality, not some sham.

The movie opens with a few establishing scenes that show us how Hitch works his magic with women. Then we get to his newest client, an overweight, accident-prone accountant named Albert (played by Kevin James). Albert has always had trouble with women because of his appearance and his clumsiness, so he has finally decided to turn to the Date Doctor for help. The only problem is, Albert's dream woman happens to be Allegra Cole (Amber Valetta), a young, rich, beautiful socialite who is a client at Albert's firm. Allegra has been linked to playboys in the past, so Hitch certainly has his work cut out for him in order to get Albert a chance with Allegra.

Meanwhile, there's a parallel storyline involving Hitch's own love life. It seems that although his advice works wonders for his clients, it doesn't do much for advancing his own interests. Currently, Hitch is pursuing a woman named Sara (Eva Mendes), an attractive, cynical journalist who thus far has paid more attention to her career than to her personal life.

Sara at first rebuffs Hitch's advances, but eventually gives in and goes on a date with him. Hitch does his very best to be the romantic, sweet, endearing man of Sara's dreams, but everything goes horribly wrong. Instead of a smooth talker, Hitch turns into a stuttering fool around Sara and hardly knows what to say. But, this being a romantic comedy, we get the feeling that things will work out in the end for everyone involved.

Overall, I thought Hitch was a very likable film. It wasn't as original as the previews and hype made it out to be, but I was still able to enjoy it. A great deal of that enjoyment stemmed from the actors involved in the film. I thought Will Smith was a great choice to play the lead role. He was charming and good-looking, and I could readily accept him as a date doctor. Kevin James was also very good in his role as Albert. While it was a bit harder for me to believe that any woman like Allegra Cole would give Albert so much as the time of day, that didn't detract from the movie as a whole.

The only character I didn't particularly care for was Sara. What she did to Hitch towards the end of the film was pretty unforgivable in my book, and she didn't even do anything to redeem herself or make up for her actions. As a result, I didn't think she deserved what she got in the end. At first, I thought I was being a bit hard on the character, but I re-watched the final 20 minutes of the film and stand by my original conclusion.

Hitch isn't a great movie, but it does deliver some laughs and fun along the way. I think it's a nice date movie, and provided enough entertainment that I didn't feel I had wasted my time. That's pretty much all I expected, so I wasn't disappointed in the least.