Initially released in 2012, Rob Margoiles She Wants Me has a lot going for it: disarming sweetness, careful balancing of tones, and solid lead performance… A shame, then, that the meandering jumble of plot happens to be utterly predictable, the writer-director having studied every comedy from the past decade (pre-2012) and packed every cliché he could find into the film’s 85-minute running time.
Aspiring screenwriter Sam (Josh Gad) is dating the girl of his dreams, Sammy (Kristen Ruhlin). “The only unusual thing about Sammy is that she’s only been with one other guy,” Sam narrates. That guy happens to be Sammy’s ex-husband, hunky Harvard graduate John (Johnny Messner), “who’s dick,” Sam states, “is bigger than my thigh.” Intimidated by the man’s presence and not being much of a provider, Sam runs errands for Sammy; “I’m committed to you, you know that, right?” he whispers into her year while she’s asleep one night.
Sensing that he may lose her to the financially stable John, Sam offers Sammy the lead role in his upcoming feature. Sam’s best friend, Max (Aaron Yoo) – the only one, according to Sam, who “can get [his] career off the ground” – is upset, as he’s managed to woo A-lister Kim Powers (Hilary Duff) to potentially take that role. This leads to an awkward encounter with Kim at a restaurant, followed by many more (in what probably amounted to a day of shooting for Ms. Duff).
“The only unusual thing about Sammy is that she’s only been with one other guy…”
Things get more convoluted, though no less hackneyed. Following a series of overwritten circumstances, John incredulously invites himself over to stay with the couple, offering to pay a month’s rent. He meets Sam’s friends, which leads to more awkwardness. “Man up,” John tells Sam in Sam’s own kitchen.
More plot: Sammy gets her dream job at a theatre play but has to move to NYC. “The best way to get over somebody,” one of Sam’s friends encourages, “is to get under somebody.” Sam meets another too-good-to-be-true woman, techno-music-loving Gwen (Melonie Diaz) at a party. Her affinity for techno and cats throws him off. “You’re a really cool girl, I’m just not over somebody else,” he tells her. More stuff happens. There is a Thanksgiving scene in the film’s final third.
"…as lame as it is truthful, She Wants Me is exactly halfway there"
