‘Materialists’ Hitting Theaters Calls for a Revisit of Chris Evans’ Charming Performance in This 2010s Rom-Com

Good old-fashioned romantic comedies have been making a comeback in recent years, and Materialists jumps in on this, thriving off the nostalgia of the genre while giving us a grounded, modern spin. The movie sees Chris Evans step back into the role of a romantic lead, and while he is probably most famous for playing Captain America in the MCU, before that, he dabbled in the world of swoony kisses and charm. So with Evans shaking the dust off those romance skills, it’s only fair we revisit one of his most unexpectedly charming roles in the 2010s era of rom-coms. Next to the underrated Anna Faris, Evans plays the romantic lead in What’s Your Number? He is everything a rom-com king should be: annoying, surprising, then sweep-you-off-your-feet kind of mesmerizing, especially in this bizarre yet feel-good film.

What Is ‘What’s Your Number?’ About?

When What’s Your Number? was first released, it was met with a poor critical reception, and, admittedly, the film does have a strange plot. Ally (Faris) is a single woman who was recently dumped by her boyfriend and is on her journey to find “Mr. Right”. However, after hearing about an article in Cosmopolitan (how very Y2K), which states that the average woman has 21 sexual partners, she decides she needs to find “the one” before reaching number 21. A drunken one-night-stand sees her accidentally reach that limit, but she has the bright idea of tracking down her previous lovers in hopes they will be husband material, all while enlisting the help of her neighbor, Colin (Evans).

While many of the concepts in the film are outdated, the struggle of navigating the dating world is a timeless and relatable idea. But it is the two leads that make the film worth watching, with their building chemistry becoming the driving force of the film. And, of course, Evans is irresistible as a romantic lead, even if he starts off as a neighboring nuisance and perhaps a hint of a misogynistic prick who keeps a revolving door of ignored women in his apartment. But as the film progresses and love-driven antics ensue, the two slowly bond with each other, and Ally is forced to choose between her heart and her head.

‘What’s Your Number?’ Shows Off Evans’ Quirky Charm

Evans is the furthest from a classical romantic lead when he is introduced. Colin viciously shies away from commitment, is somewhat sleazy, has an endless capacity to irritate someone, and even his penchant for being naked a lot of the time should be off-putting. But the film’s hilarious script and Evans’ delivery make Colin come off as charming, at least to the point that we understand why women are attracted to him and not just his good looks. But since we see him from Ally’s perspective, Colin is just an immature burden who hides in Ally’s apartment until the woman in his life leaves.

However, as the layers in his personality are exposed, we are inexplicably drawn to him, and this is due to Evans’ performance at each step. From agreeing to help Ally track down her ex-flames to being interested in her hobbies, he plays each dialogue and narrative beat with genuine curiosity — who doesn’t love someone being attentive? Even in one of his seediest lines, where he explains he can never go to a woman’s apartment for a one-night-stand lest he sees them as human beings, he comes off as vulnerable, revealing the character’s insecurities and fears. So, even if the plot is strange and outdated, Evans injects charm and life into it, making it and him enjoyable to watch anyway.

Evans Has Swoony Chemistry With Faris in ‘What’s Your Number?’

A shocked Anna Faris is next to Chris Evans as they look at something off-screen in What's Your Number. — Image via 20th Century Studios

While Evans is a compelling romantic lead in his own right, it is his on-screen chemistry with Faris that genuinely uplifts What’s Your Number? Faris plays into the naïveté of following magazine-fueled fads (which we all did in the 2010s) with a breathy delivery and wide-eyed gaze, which is paired hilariously with Evans’ cold-hearted cynicism and inability to resist pushing her buttons, leading to goofy banter throughout the film that never fails to elicit a chuckle. What starts off as a reluctant symbiotic relationship, where Colin is constantly questioning Ally and the latter tells her neighbor to shut it, eventually evolves into something more poignant.

They gradually start understanding each other’s motivations, leading to a firm friendship before anything romantic can pop off. It’s this organic progression that makes us invest in their relationship, where the usually frosty air between them blossoms into something more fragile and precious. Much of this is due to the vulnerable and delicate side to Evans’ initially raunchy performance, and it’s why he succeeds as a romantic lead in What’s Your Number? Whether you’ve seen Materialists or not yet, it’s worth revisiting Evans’ 2010s’ foray into the rom-com scene, either to prepare you for his dreamy role as Dakota Johnson‘s Lucy’s ex-lover or to soak up some more of that classic Evans’ charm.