What's Your Number?

‘In America, 96 per cent of women who’ve been with 20 or more lovers can’t find a husband.’ So says the survey that prompts Ally (Anna Faris), whose ‘number’ is 20, to scour her list of exes in search of Mr Right. She’s helped by her womanising neighbour, Colin (Chris Evans), a slacker musician who’s picked up  stalking tips from his cop father.

Surprisingly, Evans out-funnies the likeable Faris with his comic turn as the permanently topless sidekick. The inevitable romance, however, feels less fresh and comes complete with a superfluous game of strip basketball (not enough to explain this layabout’s abs).

Based on the book ‘20 Times a Lady’ by Karyn Bosnak, this has a healthy respect for raunch and a handle on the concerns of some modern women. But it doesn’t make deft comic work of them as ‘Bridesmaids’ did. There are decent one-liners but Ally’s insecurities follow the whims of the plot more than a convincing character outline. And so this becomes a throwaway giggle rather than a life-affirming mirror for that swelling box-office target: the single woman.