The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 25, 2005, Page 7, Image 7
MOVIE REVIEW
Dating made easy with ‘Hitch ’
“Hitch”
Starring Will Smith, Eva
Mendes
★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
By JENNIFER FREEMAN
THE MIX EDITOR
There’s always that one person
who totally consumes your mind.
You are completely in love with
this man or woman, but they don’t
even know you exist. This is where
Hitch, the “Date Doctor,” comes
in.
Alex Hitchins, played by Will
Smith, was the proverbial nerd in
college. After falling in love, then
getting his heart broken, he
decides to turn his life around and
teach other lost souls how to get
the girl.
He claims that he doesn’t
change the man, or lie to get the
girl - he simply creates
opportunities for his love-struck
client to show the woman of his
dreams that he is the man for her.
Run on referrals only, Hitch
and his reputation as the Date
Doctor have become somewhat of
a New York urban legend. Hapless
men want to rina mm, ana women
doubt that he’s out there - or want
to hire him herself. But as shown
in the movie, if Hitch doesn’t feel
that his client is really in love and
just wants to get in, get off and
get out,” like the sleazy Vance, he
will refuse their business.
This light-hearted romantic
comedy is the perfect date movie.
As Will Smith with his suave
charm gives dorky guys advice on
how to get the attention of a
beautiful woman, or the
smoothest way to move in for that
first kiss, the females in the
audience will be thinking, “He is
so right. I wish somebody would
do that for me,” while the males
would do well to be taking notes.
It perfectly sets the scene for you
and your date.
Will Smith is absolutely dead
on as the supremely charming
Date Doctor. He always knows
exactly what to say in every
situation, and helps these socially
PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK
Will Smith, left, plays Hitch, a matchmaker who attempts to train
Kevin James’ character in ways to win over the woman he wants.
inept guys without seeming
condescending. Funny guy Kevin
James plays Albert Brennaman,
the overweight accountant
hopelessly in love with his super
rich socialite (but kind-hearted)
client Allegra Cole, played by
Amber Valletta.
This matchup-will prove to be
the Date Doctor’s downfall. Sexy
gossip columnist Sara Melas,
played by Eva Mendes, follows
Allegra’s every move. When she
sees her favorite scoop attending
events with the nondescript
accountant she is determined to
get to the bottom of the Date
Doctor mystery.
While she is trying to sniff out
the urban legend, Sara meets
Hitch in a bar and starts dating
him. Of course the ultimate
bachelor falls in love and all his
coolness goes out the window.
Hitch finds himself making the
bungles that he warns his clients
against. Luckily, Sara finds his
gaffes endearing and their
relationship progresses until she
finds out his secret. Then all the
intertwining storylines become
even more tangled and the
characters are left to sort out the
knot that is their love lives.
While extremely predictable,
like most romantic comedies,
“Hitch” is still thoroughly
enjoyable. The actors are
completely at home in their
characters and embody their traits.
It is very easy to guess where the
plot is going, but the little things
are what make this movie shine.
The audience can relate to the
characters consumed in their drive
to find love. At the same time they
are filing away advice from the
Date Doctor to use on that crush
sitting next to them in class or for
that girl who always comes into
your work.
The interactions between Hitch
and Albert are hilarious, especially
when Albert tells Hitch that he’s
got dancing covered, and then
proceeds to do the best white-boy
dance ever seen on-screen. The
relationships between Allegra and
Albert and also Hitch and Sara
give hope to everyone, proving
that the nerdy guy can get the girl,
and that even the cool guys screw
things up.
Go see this movie with a date,
or your friends, but be prepared
to leave wishing you were there
with a date. And if you fall into
the latter category, bring a
notepad to take Hitch’s advice so
that you will have a date for next
weekend.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc. edu
CD REVIEW
Buble creates jazzy mood music
“It’s Time”
Michael Buble
★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
By BOBBY BROOKS
the gamecock
After a stressful dose call
involving a police officer and
speeding, some soothing music was
needed to erase the techno high of
the previous album in rotation. So,
just pop in Michael Bublds new
album, and dial to the self-penned
track “Home. Immediately, like
some magic wand, it was calming.
This song just evokes warmth
about where you spend each night,
but with a sad touch added for
tonal color.
While Buble’s new CD doesn’t
contain anything overtly-inventive,
it is exactly what it should be. This
is a no-surprise disc with soothing,
sexy vocals by Buble. He evokes
Sinatra in jazzy standards like Cole
Porter’s ”1 ve Got You Under My
Skin” and “Feeling Good.”
His duet with Nelly Furtado on
“Quando, Quando, Quando” is •
light and serves as good mood
music. This whole album would
definitely help enhance the
atmosphere for love during a nice,
dinner for two — at home. It’s
nothing too loud or distracting,
but it’s great to have for romantic
or relaxed moments.
“Song for You,” featuring a
trumpet solo by Chris Botti, is
another great track that highlights
Bubld’s swooning vocal talents. The
lyrics are well-suited to be poured
out of his mouth: “So if my words
don’t come together, Listen to the
melody cause my love’s in there
hiding. This song oozes through
your veins, goes straight to your
heart and makes you feel its passion.
His vocals are often good at making
you feel what his music is saying
People, who are not fans of jazzy
music, would not enjoy this album
except for Bubl^’s renditions of
“Save the Last Dance For Me,”
“Can’t Buy Me Love,” and “How
Sweet It Is.” Everyone claiming to
have eclectic music taste should go
ahead and pick up this album the
next time they’re looking for chill
music. Guys might as well run out
and grab one just to impress the
girl they re trying so hard to
romance.
Comments on this story ptt-mml
gamecockfeatui cs@gwrn,sc.edu
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‘Price’ still right after
3 3 years of cash, prizes
By JONATHAN STORM
KRT CAMPUS
LOS ANGELES — These were
two labors of love.
Cliff Lee arose in the depths of
the darkness to make the hour drive
from Anaheim, Calif., with his wife
to line up at 6 a.m. for tickets to
“The Price Is Right.” Turns out 6
a.m. is a little late. They got stand
by ducats. The taping wouldn’t
begin for 10 hours.
Lee doesn’t care beans about
“Price,” but his wife, Ju-Yeon Ryu,
adores it. She still lives in Broomall,
Pa., a Philadelphia suburb, while
he studies acupuncture in
California, and the two take a stab
at bicoastal marriage.
“Price” is “just the best,” she
said. Not only is the old-fashioned
game show - No. 1 in daytime
after 33 years - her favorite TV
offering, it’s also the only one she
has ever watched regularly since
coming to the United States from
Korea in 1996.
A doctorate in dance theory
from Temple University, she’s
agog with anticipation on this late
January day. Not that she might
win $25,000 in cash and prizes,
though that would be fine, but that
she might actually meet Bob
Barker and maybe get a chance to
play her favorite “Price” game,
Plinko.
“I learned fluency in English
watching,” she said, “and all
about American culture.”
“I’ve heard that from so many
people,” host Barker said. “They
can follow what we’re doing. It’s
conversation. We’re pleased to
hear that.”
You could dismiss the show as
a mindless monument to
American materialism, but that
wouldn’t really explain why
CBS’s “Price,” in its 33rd year
with the same format and a host
who was old for TV when it
started, is the top-rated network
daytime show.
“The Price Is Right” is a party,
assembling on this balmy day yet
another multicultural, multi
regional and multigenerational
audience of about 320 of the
friendliest, most energetic people
you can imagine.
“I’m surprised and delighted at
how the show and I have become
sort of a cult thing among college
kids,” Barker said. “I don’t know
why. If I did, I’d bottle it and sell
it.”
With a production assistant
waving his arms at the side of the
stage, the energy is not allowed to
flag. All the fun and games pipe
into living rooms and bedrooms
across the country weekday
mornings at 11 a.m., just when
5.6 million stay-at-homes are
looking for a pick-me-up.
The joy in the audience is so
deep that even a know-it-all
reporter’s face starts to hurt with a
permanent smile, and the din spurs
40-year-old memories of Beades
movies, where the girls screamed so
loud and so constandy you
couldn’t hear a word of dialogue.
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of the nine who actually get to
“come on down” to Contestants
Row and tty to guess the cost of
frequently ugly and/or useless,
overpriced home furnishings. All
would love to move to the stage to
play nonsensical pricing games that
employ often creaky, homemade
mechanical contraptions that
determine if a contestant has won a
trip to Mexico, or, dare we think it,
“a new car!”
But there is no apparent jealousy
when one is chosen and others left
behind. People let out a little sigh,
or maybe frown, if they Ipse at Cliff
Hangers or Master Key. But it’s
always quickly supplanted by a
smile, because there’s still a chance
for the Showcase Showdown —
guess the price tag on stuff that can
add up to nearly $30,000 — and
besides, you wouldn’t want to be a
party pooper or . disappoint
Grandpa Bob.
He’s 81 now, and has given
away more than $200 million in
cash and prizes, on 18 years of
“Truth or Consequences” in the
‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s (including a
string of 3,524 consecutive
performances), and 33 years of
“Price Is Right.”
“I’ve done this all my life,” he
said. “I have such a good time. ...
I’ve considered retirement at the
end of every year for 10 or 15
years, and then I say, ‘Well, I’ll do
it one more year.’”
He has outlasted two
announcers — Johnny Olson,
who died in 1985, and Rod
Roddy, who died of cancer 1 year
ago. They had important roles on
“Price,” one of the granddaddies
of product-placement advertising,
where spaghetti-sauce purveyors
and denture-cream manufacturers
pay to make sure people hear how
tasty or useful or fun their goods
are. (The show buys most of its
bigger prizes at a deep discount).
“I bring it in on time, as if it
were a live show,” Barker said.
“In 33 years, I have literally
saved CBS millions of dollars in
editing costs. previous
version of the show ran from
1956 to 1965).
Barker’s wife and the love of
his life, Dorothy Jo, died in 1981,
and he never remarried. Over the
years, he has weathered several
sexual-harassment and wrongful
termination complaints by some
of the Beauties, who pose
provocatively with the
merchandise. Nowadays, the
Beauties are replaced pretty
regularly, and include women of
various ethnicities. Contestants
Row has been many-hued for
years.
“The country has become a
melting pot, as you well know,”
Barker said, “and reflecting that is
one of the reasons for our
success.”
No Koreans get to the
Promised Land on the Feb. 18
show, but that doesn’t bother Ju
Yeon Ryu.
“Just being here,” she said
before the taping begins, “at ‘The
Price Is Right’ that has been so
important to me since I came (to
the United States).
“It’s like a dream.”
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