re+visit | 2011 romcom “what’s your number?” holds steady with its message of empowerment

Picture this:

A film quite clearly about empowerment, based on Karyn Bosnak’s book 20 Times a Lady. In it, the main character (played by Anna Faris) refers to herself as a “whore” and tries to track down any one of her exes so she doesn’t have to sleep with more than 20 people in her lifetime. (Because something she read, of course, made her feel like 20 was too many.)

She enlists the help of her sexy, talented, somehow golden retriever-esque neighbor (Is that just Chris Evans’ allure, explained?) to help her track down (stalk) every guy she ever ended on bad terms with, just because she doesn’t want to live with shame around her number of sexual partners. Not because she is seeking true love, but because she thinks she may have “missed out” on someone while baring her trampy ways for the world.

Absurd.

The best part? What’s Your Number? was released in 2011 and is, in fact, a tongue-in-cheek take on how women are viewed. But it is so tongue-in-cheek that, at first, it seems to come off as tone deaf instead of, honestly, perhaps ahead of its time. Anna Faris is the “every girl” who is just living her life, having fun and exploring her sexuality. Sure, she encounters a slew of unfortunate events in a finite amount of time, but if we’ve reached our 30s, haven’t we all? Does the amount of people she — or anyone else — has sex or an intimate encounter with even really matter? (No. No one cared that Chris Evans was exclusively having one-night stands, right? Because “just look at those puppy dog eyes, how can you resist the boy next door charm?”)

While Faris was married to Chris Pratt from 2009 to 2018, I have experienced no greater joy in re-watching an old romcom lately than I did while viewing their storyline in this particular film. Yes, Pratt does make an appearance as one of her past lovers. She will, multiple times throughout the movie, accidentally stumble upon him and completely ruin his day. (Including his wedding day, of all days.) This feels like an important pre-vindication for what the coming years would bring for their relationship off-screen.

Pratt’s participation in this role is particularly notable because he plays a heavy man who loses weight and becomes successful (and markedly more pratty) in the film. Years later, Pratt will famously lose weight, reach peak success, insult his family, and become even more familiar with his surname.

But I digress.

Chris Evans (the preferred Chris in the Chris list, if I may) — America’s favorite brother, having been given a glimpse into his pandemic prankster ways via social media pre-social media breakup this summer — manages to play a Bostonian without any accent. This is perhaps my favorite trickery from an actor ever. A native Bostonian plays a Bostonian void of any trace of a Boston accent.

Does it mean something? Is it supposed to mean something? Did he just forget about his childhood altogether?

As a midwesterner who was surrounded by some of the top journalism schools in the country growing up — and someone who attended undergrad in southern California — I fully understand the allure of an actor who can tone down a natural dialect, and transform their voice to inhabit others. It’s a form of art I haven’t quite mastered, and I don’t anticipate having the need to entirely. (Except for in a very unique hostage situation. For that, I am fully prepared.) But in this particular case, it would have been perfectly appropriate to let the accent slip here and there.

Overall, however, Evans takes the trophy for fulfilling the role of alluring, quirky neighbor to Faris’ troubled, enticing beauty. Though you are fully aware of the trajectory of his character from get, he really commits to the story with his facial expressions and genuine reactions. Faris’ ability to play off of that really just calls to attention how underserved she is as an actress.

This movie aims to remind everyone that numbers do not count, and reinforces the need for communication, kindness, and support in sustainable relationships. It finds the viewpoint of both female and male protagonists effortlessly. (As limited as those two structures may seem now, it was very rare to find both perspectives humanized even up until very recent depictions.)

I know not everyone is looking for my breakdown of the script or my opinion about how severely under-hyped this movie was, but I do know that if you watch it with an open mind, it may actually offer a lesson or two. If you have come here for an oversimplification of the movie, I can offer that as well:

If you ever wonder why women fall for musicians — even fake ones — What’s Your Number? would be a movie to watch.

• Also of note, one of Faris’ exes is played by Anthony Mackie. This was 3 years before the beginning of Mackie and Evans’ superhero bromance with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. That same year, Playing It Cool came out featuring both actors, followed by 2015’s Ant-Man and Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and 2023’s Ghosted*.