Romantic comedies just don’t do it for me. Why? Well, what’s the typical romantic comedy plot? Boy meets girl, they fall in love and live happily ever after. But what drove me to see “Hitch” was its basic premise–“Nice guys finish last”—which I’ve been a victim of.

Alex “Hitch” Hitchens (Will Smith) is a professional date doctor for men who are in love with their “perfect” woman. He advises them on clothing, body language, dancing, the whole works: his tactics work. He sets up situations where his clients can get more intimate with their mate. But he doesn’t guarantee or promote sex, only love. He doesn’t want you to hire him if you’re only interested in sex.

His newest client, Albert (Kevin James), is the overweight, clumsy, shy, accountant and financial advisor to Allegra Cole (Amber Valleta) his boss and the woman he’s in love with. Can someone rich and powerful like Allegra be interested in someone like Albert? Apparently so. He gets her attention by standing up and yelling at the other board members in Allegra’s defense, thanks to the help of Hitch.

Hitch is busy coming up with last minute solutions to Albert’s mistakes, when he meets Sara (Eva Mendes) a gossip columnist. After a series of disastrous dates, Hitch and Sara fall for one another. You can guess the rest of the movie.

The most effective relationship in the film is that of Hitch and Albert. Their student/ teacher relationship is funny and goofy but logical at the same time. In a memorable scene where Hitch teaches Albert how to dance, Hitch vetoes Albert’s dance routine with a simple “No” and tells Albert just to snap his fingers and move from side to side. James reminds me of an intelligent and sane Chris Farley.

I enjoyed the “Hitch” from minute one and after each minute, I smiled optimistically. Some of the scenes made me laugh. But the last half hour of the film just carries on and doesn’t end where it should. It teases the audience for an ending sometime in the near future that doesn’t happen. Overall, “Hitch” enjoyable and perfect for post Valentine’s movie going.