Movie · 2005 · Comedy, Drama, Romance · 1h 58m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 2.8/10 (610.9K ratings)
The cure for the common man.
Overview
Dating coach Alex 'Hitch' Hitchens mentors a bumbling client, Albert, who hopes to win the heart of the glamorous Allegra Cole. While Albert makes progress, Hitch faces his own romantic setbacks when proven techniques fail to work on Sara Melas, a tabloid reporter digging for dirt on Allegra Cole's love life. When Sara discovers Hitch's connection to Albert – now Allegra's boyfriend – it threatens to destroy both relationships.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.8/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.11/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 68%
Metacritic: 58
TMDB: 6.6/10
Director
Andy Tennant
Production
Columbia Pictures, Overbrook Entertainment
Cast
Will Smith, Eva Mendes, Kevin James, Amber Valletta, Julie Ann Emery, Adam Arkin, Robinne Lee, Nathan Lee Graham, Michael Rapaport, Jeffrey Donovan, Paula Patton, Philip Bosco, Kevin Sussman, Navia Nguyen, Matt Malloy, Maria Thayer, Ato Essandoh, Marlyne Barrett, Jack Hartnett, David Wike
Where to watch
Netflix, TNT, TBS, tru TV, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A slick, easygoing 2000s studio rom-com with real star chemistry and a breezy New York gloss. It’s charming and often funny, but the formula is very familiar and some of the dating-coach premise feels dated now.
Best for
fans of glossy early-2000s romantic comedies
viewers who like charismatic star vehicles
people in the mood for a light, comfort-watch romance
audiences who enjoy ensemble comedy with a polished studio sheen
Skip if
you want a fresh or subversive rom-com
you’re sensitive to dated gender politics and pickup-artist vibes
you prefer sharper indie humor or more emotionally layered romance
you dislike broad supporting-comedy beats
Overview
Hitch is one of those mid-2000s studio rom-coms that feels engineered to be effortless, and for the most part it is. Will Smith gives the movie its engine: confident, playful, and just self-aware enough to keep the premise from curdling. The film also benefits from the specific comfort of Manhattan romance in this era, where the city is polished into a fantasy of momentum, possibility, and expensive apartments.
Worth noting
What keeps it watchable is the chemistry and the comic structure. The Albert storyline is the movie at its loosest and funniest, while the central romance has a more familiar push-pull between charm and career ambition. It’s sweet, but also very much of its time in the way it frames dating as a tactical problem to be solved.
Bottom line
If you’re revisiting it, the appeal is less about surprise than about tone: breezy, glossy, and built around performers who know exactly how to sell a setup this broad. It’s not a great rom-com, but it is an easy one to like, especially if you miss the studio-comedy confidence of the 2000s.
Top Letterboxd reviews
lauren (3.5★) · 2749 likes
romcoms set in nyc made during the 2000s radiate a level of comfort that i doubt hollywood will ever be able to replicate again
Aaron. (2.5★) · 1203 likes
Did you know: After Will Smith joined the project the studio faced a "massive" casting conundrum. Casting an African American female lead would make the film a "Black Movie", potentially alienating white audiences. While casting a white female lead would make the core romance of the film an interracial relationship, which could also alienate the backwards minds of 2005. To remedy this the studio cast Eva Mendes, a Latina actress, in an effort to offend the smallest group possible. So for some very wrong reasons we got a mainstream Rom Com with two POC leads! Progress? Representation? Yay?
demi adejuyigbe · 1012 likes
Honestly shocked at how much this movie holds up! I liked it! It's genuinely charming! And funny! Hitch is good! However, I have one big big problem with it:
Hitch was released in the United States February 11th, 2005. Four days later, on February 15th, 2005, the film's lead Will Smith released the first single from his album Lost and Found, which was titled– "Switch." Song's a banger, lyrics are questionable, it's used to great effect to make us all… more
carolinesfarts (4★) · 905 likes
First Smith slap caught on camera but not the last
Blots (2★) · 797 likes
I’m upset by Kevin James just throwing away his prescription inhaler on the street. There’s no way he has health care anymore because he totally quits his executive board job early on in the movie. Those inhalers are really expensive.