Was Will Smith’s Hitch wrong to go all out and apologize to the woman of his dreams?

Eva Mendes and Will Smith’s 2005 rom-com Hitch is one of those feel-good movies that will have you feeling all giddy throughout. Seeing the chemistry between the main actors is enough to give anyone some butterflies in their stomach. The film was met with positive reviews upon its release and is still considered a classic after all these years.
Will Smith and Eva Mendes in Hitch (2005)| Columbia Pictures
While a viewer will experience all kinds of emotions while watching Hitch, there is one aspect about Hitch that many fans are not okay with – Will Smith’s Alex “Hitch” Hitchens going out of his way to apologize and mend things with Eva Mendes’ Sara Melas after everything she put him through.

Many Fans Are Still Unhappy with Hitch’s Ending

Hitch goes over to Sara’s apartment | Columbia Pictures
For a quick recap, Will Smith’s Hitch works as a “date doctor” who helps his clients woo women. While doing so, he begins falling for Eva Mendes’ Sara, a gossip columnist. The date doctor found himself in a conundrum after none of his methods worked on Sara, which somehow made him fall deeper and deeper for her.

Eventually, Sara finds out about Hitch’s unethical profession through a vengeful and shallow Vance Munson who only wants a one-night stand with Sara’s friend. Without hearing Hitch’s side of the story, she outs him to the public by publishing an exposé about him and his work. Hitch goes through a public humiliation that causes his reputation to plummet.

Of course, since it’s a rom-com, the two eventually reconcile and have a happy ending. However, many fans are quite unhappy with how the reconciliation happened.

Hitch goes over to meet Sara at her apartment and apologizes. When she doesn’t listen and drives away in her car, Hitch runs behind her in a grand gesture, jumps onto the moving vehicle, and falls to the ground. Still on the ground, Hitch states that he’d do anything to get Sara back, even if it meant getting himself killed. After a short monologue on how people take a “leap” for love, Hitch manages to break down Sara’s walls and they reconcile.

In the comment section of a YouTube video showing this scene, many fans seemed unhappy about their reconciliation and wondered why Hitch was the only one to apologize despite Sara being in the wrong too.

Here’s what some of the fans stated,

@a.mp.m7340: I never understood why he was the one apologizing and going all out his way for her. I mean my dude she was the one who blew everything up like, what?!?

@nujeru99: …Hitch gave men who had little to no self-esteem…the confidence that they could find a romantic partner. He helped so many people, yet she publicly exposes him….ruins his reputation, his career, etc based on FALSE INFORMATION. Yet she’s the one that he has to run after and apologize to?? Gimme a break.

@tdeer16: Overall a good movie, but I do get annoyed that it’s an automatic rule in the romantic comedy genre that no matter how wrong or bad the woman is, it’s the man who runs after her and it’s up to her to accept him or not…She wrote an article based on false information and destroyed this man’s reputation and career, not to mention significantly damaged many genuine relationships.  Yet he is the one going after her because he sees the error in his ways and when does she ever even apologize?

@jugandoalogeek: This scene was one of the worst for me in the movie. She kinda ruined his job, technically made fraud with an article which didn’t have accurate information and made a conclusion about who Hitch was by somebody who wasn’t really a client and HE is the one who has to follow her?

@vankai06: decades later.. we still all hate the ending

Of course, there are some who love how Hitch went all out for the woman of his dreams including @PoseidonKross2009 who wrote, “This is so goddamn sweet” and @michaelirving9117 who said, “I like when he said there’s one person who makes me feel like i can fly and that’s you.” Overall, though, the consensus seems to be that Hitch shouldn’t have been the only one apologizing.

Eva Mendes Would Love to do a Hitch Sequel

A still from Hitch | Columbia Pictures
Talking to Entertainment Tonight at the 2020 Create & Cultivate Conference, Mendes revealed that she is interested in making a Hitch sequel along with Smith. She stated, “You know what? It’s time for a Hitch 2. Will, let’s do this. Hitch 2.”

Given the fact that Hitch and Sara got their happy ending back in 2005, the sequel will obviously tell the story of what comes after the happy ending when the main characters have ridden into the sunset, hand in hand.

Mendes has the perfect idea for a plot for the sequel – dating apps.

With the rise of dating apps lately, people would no longer need to consult a “date doctor” in order to get the women of their dreams. Thus, the sequel will be all about Hitch trying to maneuver his way through the modern dating scenario.

Mendes said,

It’d be in the world of all these dating apps. What would Hitch do? He’d be out of a job.

The last time Mendes was in a film was all the way back in 2014 when she played the role of Cat in Lost River. While she doesn’t know what the future will bring, she once stated that she was happy staying at home with her and Ryan Gosling’s kids. Perhaps Hitch 2 can pull her out of retirement.