She’s Out of My League opened the same weekend as Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. I chose to see Alice and clearly made the wrong decision. She’s Out of My League and Alice and Wonderland are polar opposites when it comes to expectation and actual experience. My expectations for Alice in Wonderland were very high and it really failed to deliver. My expectations for She’s Out of My League couldn’t have been lower. The trailer made it look like a Maxim dating article come to life. But She’s Out of My League ended up being a very enjoyably cute romantic comedy, one that I wouldn’t mind watching again (something I can’t say about Alice in Wonderland).
Having spent some time in Pittsburgh, I thought it was cool that the filmmakers decided to incorporate the city into the movie. The two main characters, Kirk (Jay Baruchel) and Molly (Alice Eve) spend a date at a Penguins game and another atop Mt. Washington, or Mt. Worshington as the locals call it.
But if you’re going to set a movie in a city as unique as Pittsburgh, go all the way with it.
Where’s the Steelers gear? I have it on good authority that everyone in Pittsburgh is required to own no fewer than two Stilllers tee-shirts, and that really is a bare minimum. This doesn’t include Steelers caps, hats, sweatpants and XXL fatty Starter jackets. The last time I was in Pittsburgh I overheard a woman describe a t-shirt stand in the Strip District as “They have great Stillers shirts, but they don’t have any in womens’ sizes.” She was wearing a Cleveland Sucks t-shirt. In her party were five other people, four of whom were wearing Steelers shirt. The other guy was in a Pitt shirt. This seems like the right ratio that the costume design department should have gone with for She’s Out of My League. Filming a movie in Pittsburgh without anyone in Steelers shirts is like filming a movie at Fenway Park without inbred Red Sox fans.
Where’s the Pittsburgh accent? Everyone in this movie is supposedly a Pittsburgh native, but nobody had a Pittsburgh accent. A lot of the cast did have accents, but they were cobbled together from everywhere but Pittsburgh. Kirk’s mom sounds like she’s from Minnesota and his brother sounds like he’s from the east coast. A lot of time is spent downtown, but no one calls it dahntahn. Not once did someone use the word yinz.
Where’s the Pittsburgh food? Pittsburgh is full of some of tastiest high caloric food in the country. You’re not born able to fit into a XXL fatty Steelers Starter jacket. You have to earn it through multiple trips to Pamela’s for pancake breakfasts, sandwiches stuffed with fries and coleslaw at Primanti Brothers, cheese cake from Gullifty’s, and smiley face Eat N’ Park cookies. I’m amazed more of this movie didn’t take place in an Eat N’ Park. Kirk and his slacker friends look like they would frequent midnight breakfast pretty often.
Finally, where’s The Exchange? I’m pretty sure I spotted a stack of NES games behind Jay Baruchel’s head in one scene. He clearly like to blow his hard earned TSA pay at Pittsburgh’s mecca of used video games, The Exchange.
I think America is ready for a movie that really takes place in Pittsburgh. A movie where people go to Jynt Igle for their chipped ham sammitches n’at to eat at The Point.
Despite wanting more Pittsburgh in the movie, I still rate She’s Out of My League as positively Razzy Fresh!