Hitch

Comedy, Romance

Will Smith	Alex Hitchens
Jeffrey Donovan	Vance
Adam Arkin	Max
Kevin James	Albert
Robinne Lee	Cressida
Eva Mendes	Sara
Michael Rapaport	Ben
Amber Valletta	Allegra Cole
Julie Ann Emery	Casey
Marlyne Afflack	Stephanie
Kevin James (III)
Nathan Lee Graham	Geoff
Kevin Bisch

Director	Andy Tennant; Andrew Tennant
Producer	James Lassiter; Will Smith; Wink Mordaunt
Writer	Kevin Bisch

Will Smith's easygoing charm makes Hitch the kind of pleasant, uplifting romantic comedy that you could recommend to almost anyone--especially if there's romance in the air. As suave Manhattan dating consultant Alex "Hitch" Hitchens, Smith plays up the smoother, sophisticated side of his established screen persona as he mentors a pudgy accountant (Kevin James) on the lessons of love. The joke, of course, is that Hitch's own love life is a mess, and as he coaches James toward romance with a rich, powerful, and seemingly inaccessible beauty named Allegra (Amber Valetta), he's trying too hard to impress a savvy gossip columnist (Eva Mendes) with whom he's fallen in love. Through mistaken identities and mismatched couples, director Andy Tennant brings the same light touch that made Drew Barrymore's Ever After so effortlessly engaging. As romantic comedies go, Hitch doesn't offer any big surprises, but as a date movie it gets the job done with amiable ease and style. --Jeff Shannon