Ever since Simon Pegg bounded onto Australian screens and into our consciousness as Tim in the 1999 BBC series Spaced he has made a career playing a certain kind of guy – nervous, slightly unsure of himself, loquacious and a bit nerdy but very, very funny.

Think about it. There’s Shaun in Shaun of the Dead, Dennis in Run Fatboy Run, Sidney Young in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, Graeme Willy in Paul, Gary King in World’s End and now Jack in Ben Palmer’s rom-com Man Up.

Soon-to-be-divorced Jack is set up by a mate for a blind date with Jessica (Ophelia Lovibond – Guardians of the Galaxy) but instead meets Nancy (Lake Bell – No Strings Attached), a 30-something single who’s done with dating, fed up with her sister’s continual matchmaking. By chance, Nancy has met Jessica on the train to Waterloo Station in London and, more by error than design, ends up passing herself off as Jack’s prospective date. It’s the start of a wild night.

This is not the greatest screwball comedy you’ll ever see, nor the funniest, but it has charm and enough laugh-out-loud moments to keep you engaged. Pegg and Bell are both appealing, Bell particularly as the very English Nancy – which is not bad for a New Yorker.

The downside is that Man Up has a bit of a ‘telemovie’ feel to it. This is not really surprising, given that both director Palmer and screenwriter Tess Morris have backgrounds in television; Palmer is best known for The Inbetweeners while Morris has written for Hollyoaks and My Family. Editor Paul Machliss also fits this bill, having cut The IT Crowd, Black Books and many other British TV comedy series.

They’re good at what they do but this still feels like it might have been more at home in the ABC2 television schedule than on the big screen.

// IAN TAYLOR

Previewed at Sony Theatre, Sydney on 26 October 2015