Hitch (film)
Hitch is a
2005 romantic comedy film,
directed by
Andy Tennant.
Alex "Hitch" Hitchens (played by
Will Smith) is a professional "date doctor", who coaches other men in the art of wooing women.
While coaching one of his clients, Albert (played by
Kevin James), who is smitten with
celebrity Allegra Cole (played by
Amber Valletta), Hitch finds himself falling for Sara (played by
Eva Mendes), a gossip columnist who is following Allegra around, looking for a scoop. 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. In the end Albert and Allegra get married and celebrate their marriage with Hitch and Sara get back together again.
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Will Smith — Alex "Hitch" Hitchens
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Eva Mendes — Sara Melas
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Kevin James — Albert Brennaman
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Amber Valletta — Allegra Cole
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Hitch (left) gives Albert romantic advice. |
The two male leads, Smith and James, are best known for starring in
sitcoms that were named for royalty. Smith starred on
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which ran from
1990 to
1996, and James currently stars as
Doug Heffernan on
The King of Queens. It was Smith who suggested James for the role of Albert, as he is a big fan of the series.
Eva Mendes' character was originally offered to Indian actress and supermodel
Aishwarya Rai, but the latter could not take the role due to scheduling problems.
Amber Valletta's character Allegra Cole is a reference to the fictional
Esquire model Allegra Coleman, "played" by
Ali Larter.
James' dance sequences were semi-planned, but mostly ad-lib. Even Smith didn't know what types of dances he would perform that day (which was revealed in the "Dance Steps Made Easy" featurette of the
DVD).
The original title of the movie was
The Last First Kiss, referring to the line that Hitch delivers to Albert: "This could be her last first kiss." This title was used throughout most of the shoot, hence the film's working title.
Eva Mendes also appeared before in
Will Smith's video of "
Miami".
The movie was the tenth-highest grossing film of 2005, and broke the record for best opening weekend for a romantic-comedy film.
The
DVD release was one of the first movies to employ Sony's
ARccOS copy protection. Also available on
UMD (Universal Media Disc) for the
Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable).
Parts of the movie were filmed in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, at Columbia University.
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2005 in film*
Official site*
Score
