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Hitch

Reviewed By Madelyn Miller, the TravelLady

I loved this movie. It was a perfect match for my mood and mindset. I think it was because I went with someone I have had a crush on for a longtime. I am divorced, he recently ended a relationship.

We both loved the movie—but I did notice we laughed at totally different things. It seemed like one of the other of us was laughing the whole time.  The whole premise of dating really resonated with us.

So much so that it inspired us to start an intimate relationship. So I will always think of Hitch as the mental foreplay for a great relationship. I would give it five stars in the aphrodisiac category.

I wonder if unhappily married people who see the movie enjoy it as much as we did.

The audience the night we saw the movie was clapping, cheering and stamping their feet in approval. At times it almost seemed like it was a football game and the home team was literally scoring.

I scored 48 hours later.

But enough about my sex life.

Right now I do not need a man like Hitch. But I could use a broom to sweep my loft

“No matter what, no matter when, no matter who, any man has a chance to sweep any woman off her feet. He just needs the right broom."
Alex “Hitch” Hitchens

In Columbia Pictures’ sophisticated romantic comedy Hitch, Alex “Hitch” Hitchens (Will Smith) is a legendary — and deliberately anonymous — New York City “date doctor” who, for a fee, has helped countless men woo the women of their dreams.

While coaching Albert (Kevin James), a meek accountant who is smitten with a glamorous celebrity, Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta), Hitch finally meets his match in the person of the gorgeous, whip-smart Sara Melas (Eva Mendes), a gossip columnist who follows Allegra’s every move.

The ultimate professional bachelor, Hitch suddenly finds himself falling deliriously in love with Sara, a reporter whose biggest scoop could very well be the unmasking of Manhattan’s most famous date doctor.

Hitch stars Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James, Amber Valletta, Michael Rapaport and Adam Arkin. The film is directed by Andy Tennant. The film was written by Kevin Bisch and produced by James Lassiter, Will Smith and Teddy Zee.

The Romantic Comedy Hitch

Though Will Smith is one of Hollywood’s most popular and well-established superstars, a romantic heartthrob since his early days as a popular rapper and a proven comedic talent since his long-running TV series “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” he has never starred in a big-screen romantic comedy before. It’s not for lack of trying. “We’d been searching for the right romantic comedy project for Will for years,” admits James Lassiter, the producer of Hitch and Smith’s partner in the production company Overbrook Entertainment. “It’s not as easy at it looks. There aren’t many out there and even fewer that are any good.”

Finally, Lassiter and Overbrook’s Teddy Zee found a romantic comedy screenplay by Kevin Bisch that seemed to be tailored to Smith’s considerable talents. The story involved a “date doctor,” a cool, self-assured man who, for a fee, helps shy and socially inept men approach and win over the women of their dreams. “It’s the perfect urban legend,” says Lassiter, “about a guy who is very charismatic and confident around women, so much so that he is able to teach other men how to approach the women they’ve fallen for.”

“In Hitch’s philosophy,” he continues, “it only takes three dates to illuminate the right you and appeal to the woman of your dreams.” 

Zee also sensed that the story had potential. “It had an unmistakable New York feel to it — hip and contemporary,” says Zee. “And it was told from the man’s point of view, which is extremely rare in romantic comedies.”

The germ of the idea came from screenwriter Kevin Bisch’s experiences in college when, after a series of dates with different women, he realized he usually wound up sitting on the edge of their beds going through photo albums. In trying to discover why these women were fixated on showing him their photo albums, Bisch says he had a revelation. “How could I be so dense? They were just killing time waiting for me to kiss them. After that I became obsessed with the minutiae of dating.”

From the first page of the script, says Smith, he knew he wanted to play Hitch. “He’s a kind of an alchemist,” says the actor. “He takes what is and transforms it into what could be. All he needs is love. When he first meets the guys, he asks them if they’re truly in love with the woman they’re trying to win, because without that, Hitch can’t help them.”

Ironically, while Hitch himself has luck with women, he has no special relationship in his own life, because he’s still wounded from a heartbreak he suffered back in college and has vowed to never open himself up to love (an hurt) again.

That sentiment struck a chord with Smith as well. “Every guy has that one girl he remembers from high school that he was in love with and she did something that tore his heart out,” Smith says. “What makes Hitch so special is that he’s made it his life’s work to make sure other men are spared that fate.”

“I think that’s what makes the character of Hitch so appealing,” says Bisch. “He’s not jaded or cynical about romance. He really believes that every guy — except himself — can meet and woo the girl of his dreams. What he’s doing is really noble and altruistic. He wants these guys to succeed and spare them the pain he endured.”

An obvious choice to direct Hitch was director Andy Tennant, who had ably displayed his romantic comedy chops in such major hits as Sweet Home Alabama and Ever After. “Andy owns this genre,” says Zee, who previously worked with Tennant on Fools Rush In. “He’s not only funny, but he brings a refreshing humanity to romantic comedies as well.”

Tennant’s films are informed by his attitude toward romance. “Basically, love is a wonderful problem we never solve,” he says. “It’s this great merry-go-round of emotions that I find endlessly fascinating.”

Hitch’s “date doctor” rules are part of a long-standing tradition regarding the game of love. “There’s a line in the movie that says it very well: ‘She wants the real you. She just doesn’t want it all at once,’” says Tennant. “What that means is that you can’t completely overwhelm someone with your emotions. It’s all about the controlled release. You have to play some of the courtship games that have been going on for centuries.”

While Hitch proves himself to be extremely successful in helping other men find love, his smooth, practiced approach doesn’t seem to work on Sara Melas (Eva Mendes), a beautiful reporter who works for a New York tabloid newspaper, leaving him stymied and intrigued.

“For the first time in his life,” says Lassiter, “Hitch has met someone who also has it all figured out and he finds that very appealing.”

“It’s almost like the universe is conspiring against him,” laughs Smith, “forcing him to show Sara who he really is rather than what he thinks she wants to see.”

“Sara brings out the vulnerable, awkward geek that’s inside all of us when we
approach the woman of our dreams,” observes Tennant.

Mendes, who has already made her mark in comedy and drama in such films as Out of Time, Stuck on You, and 2 Fast 2 Furious, was cast in the role, says executive producer Wink Mordaunt (Tennant’s producing partner), “because she
is light-hearted, yet has a certain gravity. She has exactly the right temperament for Sara. When Hitch tries to set up dates with her and they go horribly wrong, Sara is not irritated. She’s entertained. That corresponds perfectly with Eva’s personality.”

“And she’s a brilliant actress,” adds Smith. “She’s beautiful and funny — and a lot of woman. She totally kept me on my toes.”

The opportunity to work with Smith was definitely a draw for Mendes, but it was also the appeal of Sara’s character. “Like Hitch, I fell in love with Sara, a woman who thinks she needs to keep her guard up so she can succeed as a career woman,” says Mendes. “But inside she is a hopeless romantic.”

Another actor who kept Smith on his toes was Kevin James, who is making his feature film debut as Albert Brennaman, Hitch’s new client who is sorely in need of a “date doctor’s” help. The role offered the star of the hit comedy series “The King of Queens” the opportunity to transition his talent for physical comedy to the big screen.

Albert, James’ character in Hitch, represents “The most insecure aspect in all of us,” Smith continues. “He doesn’t wear the right clothes, he doesn’t say the right things. He’s sort of clumsy and slightly overweight.” Yet, Albert is hopelessly in love with Allegra Cole, a beautiful socialite, who knows him only as one of her accountants. “Every guy can relate to Albert’s dilemma,” says producer Zee. “He has a dream, a yearning for something special in his life and that something special is Allegra.”

Allegra is played by Amber Valletta, the supermodel who has crossed over into acting with roles in such films as What Lies Beneath and Family Man. “It wasvery important that the character of Allegra be really sympathetic and vulnerable so that when Albert falls in love with her, we all fall in love with her, too,” says Zee. “Amber is one of those gifted actresses who is not only naturally beauty, but has a recognizable core of humanity that makes her accessible.”

Valletta approached the character of Allegra as a woman who is always in the spotlight, always the center of attention from everyone around her and for the press. “But at the same time Allegra is fighting to find her voice as a woman, not just the image that everyone sees,” says the actress. “Albert is not the kind of guy she’s dated or necessarily even been around, which intrigues her.” And it is for that very reason that Hitch insists that Albert strictly adhere to his rule of holding back on his first date with Allegra. “My character is like a puppy dog,” says James. “I’d be all over the place, going crazy if I didn’t listen to Hitch and play it cool and just kind of sit back and relax.”

It works like a charm. And that’s why Hitch is Hitch.

About The Production

Director Andy Tennant says he’s always wanted to shoot a film entirely in New York, after having shot portions of Fools Rush In and Sweet Home Alabama in Manhattan. “New York is the perfect place to film a movie about dating, being on your game and in your 30s,” he says.  “New York is where people go to become successful, to be rich and make their lives better,” says Smith. “At the center of all that energy is love, but it’s often
overlooked.”

Production on Hitch began last spring in the trendy Soho bistro Balthazar. Tennant chose to shoot much of the film downtown, in areas rarely seen in movies.

The story’s nexus is Manhattan’s meatpacking district near 14th Street, which contains many of the city’s hippest and most lively nightspots. Several key scenes were shot at the “Amp Lounge,” which is loosely based on the exclusive real-life Soho House.

“There are about 74 different locations in this movie,” according to executive producer Michael Tadross, whose is no stranger to New York films, having worked on Die Hard with a Vengeance and The Thomas Crown Affair. “That’s more than I have ever had in 24 years of doing this.”  Chic up-to-the-minute locations were Pop Burger and Little Pie Company in the meatpacking district. For some of the more romantic scenes that Hitch recommends to his clients, the filmmakers shot in Central Park and Ellis Island the historic entry point for immigrants to the United States, which has unparalleled views of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. It is on Ellis Island that Tennant shot Hitch and Sara’s first date. Now part of the National Park Service, Ellis Island is where immigrants from all over the world first stepped on American soil from 1892 until 1954.

One of the few changes the production was allowed to make to the Ellis Island museum was the addition of some set dressing in the main hall — display cases containing ship manifests that were part of the scene. The production put up signs indicating that the manifests were movie props of no historic value, but still, tourists (the museum remained open during filming) were fascinated, taking pictures of them anyway. The display cases were then donated to the museum. The fake manifests were not.

Another sequence that brought the new and old of New York together was shot at the Fulton Fish Market in Lower Manhattan, when Sara brings Hitch to a cooking class held in a corner of the fabled market. “Sara’s a gossip columnist, so she always knows what’s happening and where to go,” explains Musky. “Sara brings Hitch to this place, which is very special in that not a lot of people know about it, which impresses him because it means she actually knows more about the social scene than he does.”

Not that Hitch is a slouch. Far from it. He lives in his “command center,” a decorator-designed apartment located in a real Tribeca loft. It is here that he orchestrates his clients’ idealized dates. Says Musky, “Kind of like a painter, he jumps around. He has a magnetic board to set up the dates, a blackboard on which he writes down thoughts and a computer nearby for research. He has all the latest technology at his fingertips, and just as importantly, the best chocolates.”

Hitch’s command center is composed of panes of glass filled with argon gas.  “He pushes a button and an electric charge passes through the glass,” the production designer explains. “It activates the argon, which becomes cloudy, frosty. In an instant, the transparent glass wall becomes opaque, ensuring Hitch the privacy that he needs, so that no one will learn that his clients needed professional help to meet the women of their dreams” — which would be fatal to his thriving business.

Hitch is a hip New Yorker, who is always pulled together, but is very casual about it. While many of Smith’s clothes were custom-made for the athletically built actor, Stewart also dressed him in some designer-wear. “We used some Etro jackets, some Prada, some Gucci,” she says. “And we tried to push the envelope a little bit in terms of color — lavenders and pinks, with seersucker — what you’d see on a well-dressed man in Milan.”

Clothes are in fact an important part of Hitch’s work since he grooms his clients in preparation for their big dates. “Part of the movie is extreme make-over,” says tewart. “Most of the guys in the movie start to look like Hitch at a certain point. For example, when we first see Albert, the accountant who hires Hitch in order to win the love of a gorgeous heiress, he is wearing a rather loud green gabardine suit with white socks — a common faux pas. After some coaching from Hitch, Albert becomes more fashionable, darker clothes, a smart part of jeans.”

One particular scene that had the crew in stitches was one during which the character of Albert shows Hitch his own particular style of dancing. “Most men think they’re doing a good job when they’re out on the dance floor,” says James, “but I’d say nine times out of ten, it’s a car wreck — a really bad car wreck. Still, they’re out there thinking, ‘she’s really digging this!’”

But even the comedic scenes contribute to the story’s underlying themes. “The thing about this story is that it’s incredibly easy for anyone to relate to the characters’ problems,” says Zee. “And when they overcome them, there’s this sense of relief. It gives us hope for romance and love in our own lives.” That could be in part because Hitch’s dating philosophy has a ring of reality to it, says Lassiter. “The way Hitch sees it, you only get one shot at a first kiss,” he says. “And he’s right. Your first shot has to be your best shot.”

“One thing that I would hope that guys in the audience will pick up on is the level of effort Hitch puts into pleasing a woman,” adds Smith. “It takes 16 hours a day, five days a week to be a carpenter or a doctor or a basketball player. So how do you think you’re every going to sustain the most valuable relationship in your life if you don’t put any time and energy into it?”

And it’s not only the men in the audience who will relate to the film’s central themes, says Mendes. “As Americans, we take classes on everything except some of the most important things like parenting and dating and relationships. I think girls will want a Hitch for themselves — to teach them, to give them guidance.”

In the end, however, it’s not Hitch’s lessons about cool clothes, home decorating and fashionable nightspots that win the day — though they don’t hurt. “When all is said and done,” concludes Tennant, “the film is about presenting the best part if you, about not being afraid to show your foibles and flaws and anything else that makes you unique, that makes you an individual.” By the time this review was posted, I think my relationship had ended (or at least cooled down)  Maybe I need to buy the video and watch it again.

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