'What's Your Number?' doesn't add up

Women in movies are allowed to be sexy or funny, but Anna Faris got to be both in 2008's "The House Bunny," a saucy comedy that turned her into a celebrity with a feminist edge. It was probably inevitable, though, that Hollywood would sucker Faris into at least one rom-com casting her as the usual stereotype: insecure, desperate and lamentably single.

That movie, "What's Your Number?," stars Faris as Bostonian party girl Ally Darling, who is horrified to read in Marie Claire magazine that women with 20 or more sexual partners have missed their chance at true love. Ally, who hit that limit just the other night, decides that somewhere in her past, The One must be waiting. Instead of looking for a job (she's just been fired), Ally devotes herself to hunting down exes.

Ally seems dimly aware of her own stupidity, but she's driven by low self-esteem. To meet budding politician Tom Piper (Anthony Mackie), she buys a Clinton-esque pantsuit. To meet gynecologist Barrett Ingold (Thomas Lennon), she books an appointment. Upon meeting Simon (Martin Freeman), she re-creates the British accent she faked on their first date (a rare funny scene that plays to Faris' goofy strengths).

Based on a novel by Karyn Bosnak, "What's Your Number?" can't squeeze in all 20 exes because it needs room for the exasperating mother (Blythe Danner), the impossibly perfect suitor (Dave Annable) and the great guy right under Ally's nose (Chris Evans, somewhat diminished without his "Captain America" suit).

Director Mark Mylod and his two screenwriters go for edgy sex talk and nudity, but down deep the movie is hopelessly puritanical, shaming Ally for her promiscuity and single status. In the end, this seemingly modern woman is yet another distressed damsel looking for a superhero.