Hitch (film)

Infobox Film
name = Hitch


caption = A promotional film poster for "Hitch".
director = Andy Tennant
producer = James Lassiter
Will Smith
Teddy Zee
writer = Kevin Bisch
starring = Will Smith
Eva Mendes
Kevin James
music = George Fenton
Alan Elliott
cinematography = Andrew Dunn
editing = Troy Takaki
Tracey Wadmore-Smith
distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = February 11, 2005
runtime = 118 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget = $70,000,000
gross = Worldwide:
$368.1 million [ [http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=hitch.htm Box Office Mojo: Hitch] ]
website = http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/hitch/index.html
amg_id = 1:299914
imdb_id = 0386588

"Hitch" is a 2005 romantic comedy film starring Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James and Amber Valletta. The film is directed by Andy Tennant and written by Kevin Bisch. Smith plays a professional matchmaker, who makes a living teaching men how to woo women.

Plot summary

Alex "Hitch" Hitchens (Will Smith) is a professional "date doctor", or consultant as Hitch terms himself, who coaches other men in the art of having the perfect date with the woman of their dreams.

While coaching one of his clients, Albert Brennaman (Kevin James), who is smitten with celebrity Allegra Cole (Amber Valletta), Hitch finds himself falling for Sara Melas (Eva Mendes), a gossip columnist who is determined to unmask and ruin the so-called date doctor after one of his "clients" (with whom Hitch refused to work) had a one-night stand with her best friend. However, where Albert and Allegra's relationship continues to progress, Hitch finds that none of his tried and tested methods are working on himself, despite being a master of the art. After Hitch is unmasked, he and Sara break up, and Allegra and Albert follow suit. Finally, Hitch confronts Allegra and convinces her to reunite with Albert, before reconciling with Sara. In the process, he makes the startling discovery that he doesn't really do anything significant, and that most of his customers (particularly Albert) really were successful by just being themselves. In the end, Albert and Allegra get married and celebrate their marriage with Hitch and Sara, who are back together again. Hitch, reflecting on love's unpredictability, addresses the audience in the last line, "Basic principles... There are none."

Production

The production budget was $70,000,000. Smith alleged that actress Eva Mendes, of Cuban descent, was offered the female lead because the producers were worried about the public’s reaction if the part was played by a White actress (creating a potential interracial taboo) or a Black actress (creating a studio fear that two black leads would alienate the white audiences). It was believed that a Latina and a Black lead would sidestep the issue. [cite web |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7019342/ |title=Was race an issue in Hitch casting?
accessdate=2007-03-23 |date=2005-02-23 |work=MSNBC] Robinne Lee's character (Cressida) was originally offered to Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai, but she could not take the role due to scheduling problems. [cite web |url=http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/hindi/interview/6308.html |title=Aishwarya was almost in Hitch: director |accessdate=2007-03-23 |date=2005-04-16 |work=IndiaGlitz.com ] The working title of the movie was "The Last First Kiss", referring to a line that Hitch delivers to Albert: "This could be her last first kiss." Parts of the movie were filmed in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, at Columbia University.

Cast

*Will Smith as Alex "Hitch" Hitchens
*Eva Mendes as Sara Melas
*Kevin James as Albert Brennaman
*Amber Valletta as Allegra Cole
*Julie Ann Emery as Casey Sedgewick
*Adam Arkin as Max
*Robinne Lee as Cressida Baylor
*Nathan Lee Graham as Geoff
*Michael Rapaport as Ben
*Jeffrey Donovan as Vance Munson
*Paula Patton as Mandy

Reception and Box Office

The film was a critical and commercial success, garnering a 68% "fresh" approval rating from notable critics, a 61% approval rating from top critics, and a 73% approval rating from users on the Rotten Tomatoes website. The film ended up grossing $179,495,555 domestically, making it the tenth-highest grossing film of 2005. It also grossed $368,100,420 worldwide and broke Sony's record for best opening weekend for a romantic-comedy film. [cite web |url=http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=4074 |title=Will Smith's 'Hitch' Tops Box Office, Sets Record For Sony |accessdate=2007-03-16 |work=AllHipHop.com ]

Home Video Release

The DVD release was one of the first films to employ Sony's ARccOS copy protection. The film is also available on UMD (Universal Media Disc) for the Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable). A Blu-Ray version of the film is also available.

ee also

*Dating coach
*Partner

References

External links

* [http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/hitch/ Official site]
*imdb title|id=0386588|title=Hitch
*rotten-tomatoes|id=hitch|title=Hitch
*mojo title|id=hitch|title=Hitch

Box Office Leaders USA
before = Boogeyman
date = February 13
date2 = February 20
year = 2005
after = Diary of a Mad Black Woman