Don’t be deceived. Though afflicted with an unfunny trailer and direction from the guy who made appalling sex comedy The Sweetest Thing, this is largely stink-free. About two seconds
in, as a fat-suited Ryan Reynolds under a ginger wig sings along to Boyz II Men’s I Swear, your face splits in a stupid grin that lasts, largely uninterrupted, for the next 90 minutes. Reynolds is making a habit of winning audiences over despite themselves: this is, after all, the man who made Van Wilder: Party Liaison watchable. He plays on that winning charmer routine here, slipping in a dollop of nerdishness as the newly babelicious Chris.
Anna Faris provides the Beast to his Beauty as a wannabe rock star, proving again that she’s better in over-the-top supporting roles than in any number of Scary Movies, and there’s a great, all-too-brief cameo from Airplane!’s Julie Hagerty as Chris’ anxious mother. If there’s a weak link, it’s Amy Smart, who’