'She's Out of My League' is a raunchy-comedy in league of its own

You can't just dismiss a piece of amusing juvenile raunch like "She's Out of My League" as locker-room fodder for teenage boys anymore. There's been an indisputable popular resurgence of screen vulgarity over the past decade that includes fare as varied as the "American Pie" series and the gold-seal product from the Judd Apatow factory.

That's not to say that "League" is in the same league as some of the more discerningly crude comic romances that have redefined the genre, but this bad-mannered love story has a funny foul mouth with a few bright spots of charm.

The brightest is Jay Baruchel as Kirk, the lovelorn, sunken-chested schlub of a hero whose wry delivery and unselfconscious lack of self- esteem sparkle with ironic self-effacement. Kirk is still pining over the breakup of a girlfriend (Lindsay Sloane), who remains in his life thanks to a crazily dysfunctional family that's invited her to live in their home — along with her new boyfriend. He sighs through his days as a security agent at the Pittsburgh airport, where he sucks up the punch lines of dirty jokes hurled at him by an entertaining ensemble of co-workers (T.J. Miller, Mike Vogel, Nate Torrence).

Kirk's posse urges him to accept his fate as a "five" and lower his expectations. But when a "hard 10" named Molly (Alice Eve) walks through his security gate, the math gets complicated for everyone.

The romantic "Beauty and the Beast" aspect of Molly's hotness and Kirk's dorkiness is less interesting than the bits of lowbrow business that fill in the high concept. Eve's physical perfection certainly qualifies her as a 10, and one who has no trouble deflecting all the boorishness aimed in her direction. Krysten Ritter as Molly's acerbic friend Patty and Miller as Kirk's bitter, lonely-on-the-inside friend Stainer both get high marks for a continuous string of loutish zingers that puts this "League" in a league of its own.

Ted Fry: tedfry@hotmail.com