In this film, Smith plays Alex "Hitch" Hitchens, who is a professional dating consultant. He teaches men how to start a romantic relationship with women.

So why is the main character called Hitch?

The verb "hitch" has different meanings:

One meaning is travelling by asking other people to take you in their cars. You stand at the side of a road and hold out your thumb or hold out a sign and try to hitch a ride. (And that's where the word hitchhiker comes from.)

Another meaning is to fasten a trailer to the back of a car, fasten a horse to a wagon, etc.

As a noun, hitch means a problem that is not very serious. For example your plane may be delayed because of a last-minute technical hitch, or when you are installing a new version of a computer program, there may be a hitch, or if you are lucky, or very good with computers, you may manage to install the program without a hitch.

And then there's the expression "get hitched", which means to get married, for example: He finally got hitched at the age of 42.

Here are the opening lines of the film:

Basic principles:
No woman wakes up saying:
"God, I hope I don't get swept off my feet today."
Now, she might say,
"This is a really bad time for me."
Or something like,
"I just need some space."
Or my personal favorite:
"I'm really into my career right now."
You believe that? Neither does she.
You know why?
Because she's lying to you, that's why...

Now let's watch the opening scene together. Click on the button below to start.

The following activity can help you improve your rhythm (and intonation) when you speak English:

• Print out this PDf document.
• Go back to the beginning of the video and play it one sentence at a time.
• Pay attention to which syllables are stressed in each sentence, then underline them (or put a stress mark before them).
• Listen to the sentence again to make sure you get the rhythm created by unstressed (usually shorter) syllables and stressed syllables which are said with more force and on which we linger a bit. (I highly recommend that you study the post Working towards improving your English pronunciation before doing this activity.)
• Play the sentence one more time and try to say it with the same rhythm and pronunciation as Will Smith. Don't be shy, play the role, be expressive, be Hitch and speak like Hitch!