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Get The Girl is a 2017 action-comedy about a young man who gets involved in a crazy scheme to get a girl to notice him, resulting in some troubling consequences.
Clarence (Justin Dobies) is your typical average guy looking for some love in his life, and thinks he’s found the one girl that will be the answer to his dreams. She is Alex (Elizabeth Whitson), a leggy blonde behind the counter at the local club he’s become obsessed with even though she barely even knows he exists. Watching from a close distance, he seems to know everything about her, from that first tattoo to the time her grandmother died. She’s recently divorced but her husband won’t sign the papers, and so she won’t give Clarance even a look.
Enter Patrick (Noah Segan), a small-time Don Juan-type who Clarence enlists in trying to earn some tips in seducing a woman. Patrick sells him on the idea of being the hero and after a short test run, convinces him to take part in a fake kidnapping that will put Clarence on the top in Alex’s eyes. When it turns out that Patrick’s gang isn’t quite as sharp as the job requires, things spiral quickly into a violent, drug-filled disaster.
Directed by Eric England (who serves as co-writer), Get The Girl is a non-starter in most respects, taking the long out-dated trope of a kidnapping gone wrong and then layering it copious amounts of more. As Alex proves herself to be more than a handful, the premise burns out quickly as tables are turned when things get very “real” for the characters. The only saving grace is that England blends the violence with some dark humor that occasionally find the mark, mostly due to some sharp performances, despite some serious tonal issues and contrivances that end up stripping the experience of its potential.
The escalation of gruesome gore is not anything new in modern film, and perhaps we’re all becoming desensitized by the exaggerated use of it, though few films are getting it right, the problem being that most movies are adding it only for the sake of it rather than making it pertinent. It’s not that Get The Girl is excessive, but it is jarring, which is the point, but like many trendy films that employ comedy and blood, it’s a very thin line to walk, to which only a handful of moviemakers nail. As the madness within Clarence’s family mansion descends further into chaos, the comedy itself sours further, especially with a few of the criminals that go well-overboard with the lunacy, all of which feels unnecessary.
Get The Girl has a twist, though it’s not all that surprising and actually loses its impact thanks to the overplay in style over substance, even at a runtime of 87 minutes that tends to drag. While there’s certainly some good things happening here, and England clearly has some talent behind the camera, the film itself isn’t as dark as intends and not has funny as it hopes. A decent rental, this starts smart but ends flat.