Strong cast can't save 'Out of My League'

SHE'S OUT OF MY LEAGUE — ★★1/2 — Jay Baruchel, Alice Eve, T.J. Miller; rated R (vulgarity, profanity, brief sex, slurs, brief nudity, violence, brief drugs); in general release

Jay Baruchel is not Seth Rogen and Michael Cera, which is a good thing. Both of those actors are overexposed and have become tiresome because of their one-note performance tendencies.

And that's one of strengths of "She's Out of My League," the first of a few big-screen ventures that feature former television actor (and Rogen and Cera pal) Baruchel as their star.

Fresh-faced Baruchel is likable, and his fellow cast members share that same trait. We're not too familiar with any of them.

The material is a different matter, however. It is familiar, and it tries to duplicate the once-successful, "salty-yet-sweet" formula of Judd Apatow productions.

Yet Baruchel ("Tropic Thunder") and the others make this often-crude comedy work when it probably shouldn't.

He stars as Kirk Kettner, an airport security guard who's having trouble getting over his ill-fated relationship with Marnie (Lindsay Sloane).

She, however, has moved on. So Kirk's three buddies (T.J. Miller, Mike Vogel and Nate Torrence) are begging him to get back into the dating scene.

And he gets the chance to do that when he meets Molly McCleish (Alice Eve). This gorgeous party planner seems smitten with the less-than-confident Kirk, who believes she's way too hot for him.

At times it appears the filmmakers are trying to out-gross the 1998 Ben Stiller hit "There's Something About Mary." (There's one gag here that's very reminiscent of that earlier comedy.)

Luckily, the film's supporting characters are all scene-stealers. That's especially true for Miller (a vocal ringer for Jason Lee), as well as Krysten Ritter, who's got a whole Zooey Deschanel vibe going. (She plays Molly's best friend and confidante.)

Unfortunately, even they and Baruchel can't completely salvage the messy final third, which is where things starting going a awry.

"She's Out of My League" is rated R and features crude sexual humor (sight gags, as well as quips and the like), strong sexual language (profanity, vulgar slang terms and other sexually frank talk), brief sexual contact (mostly done for laughs), derogatory language and slurs (some based on sexual orientation and sexual identity, brief nudity (a male backside), athletics-based violence (hockey and some rough-housing), and brief drug references. Running time: 104 minutes.

e-mail: jeff@desnews.com