Talented and stunning actress Anna Faris stars opposite Chris Evans and several other very desirable men in What’s Your Number? a sexy romantic comedy about  Ally Darling, a single woman who is terrified that she is losing her chance of a fulfilling relationship and marriage because she has been with too many men.

She reads an article in a magazine warning that women who have had 20 or more loves have almost certainly lost their chance of finding the real thing. Rather than embarking on a relationship with anyone new, Ally decides to revisit her former boyfriends.

Faris’ Ally Darling, may be adorable and fun, but she is far from perfect.  “She’s trying to figure out the missing link in her life and how she can find some direction to it,” says Faris, “whether that’s through love or her artwork, a job or a special pair of shoes.  Ally is a little lost, currently unemployed, and struggling for money.”

“Ally begins to realize she’s a little lost in life,” says Faris.  “She’s now unemployed, and has a bit of an identity crisis when she realizes that since she’s slept with twenty people she may not ever be able to find a husband.  It doesn’t help that her little sister, who’s kind of perfect, is getting married.”

As an actor and filmmaker, Faris appreciated the story being told from Ally’s point of view, in a no-holds-barred way that mixes sex, heart, fun and emotion.  “I loved the idea of women getting to play in what right now seems like a man’s world,” Faris elaborates.  “Women can relate to envelope-pushing comedies, just like men can. So I wanted to play in that world as well, where a modern woman can be raunchy and real and gritty with her friends.”

A key element in keeping things fresh and vital is the dynamic between Ally and her new neighbor Colin, played by Chris Evans.  Seeking a haven from the woman he’s brought home the night before, Colin comes to Ally’s rescue when she tries to disentangle herself from her booze-riddled mistake of the night before.  Ally and Colin click, and even though Ally’s romantic sights are aimed entirely in retrospect, she has found in Colin a new friend and ally.  “Ally and Colin enhance each other but don’t necessarily live for each other,” says Evans.  “They’ve helped each other become better versions of themselves, but they don’t need each other to exist.”

Faris and Evans nicely balance one another, with Evans displaying a sense of grounded, physical stability while Faris provides a series of fluid, deft and comical transitions that always surprise.  “When Ally and Colin meet, there’s a lot of tension between them,” notes Faris.  “Ally’s kind of disgusted with Colin because she sees women coming in and out of his apartment.  She thinks he’s just this man-whore.  Ally wants much more for her own life, so she’s really annoyed when sees somebody who’s lackadaisical in their own lifestyle – probably because she’s envious.  Eventually they come to understand one another.”

“Colin comes from a family of cops and detectives, so he’s good at digging up dirt,” adds Evans.  “That’s why Ally enlists his help.  And he’s a bit of a womanizer, and is very ‘alpha.’  He’s a likable guy but he’s not exactly husband material. But slowly Colin realizes that Ally’s the person he’s supposed to be with, and that opens a lot more doors for him.”

Gabrielle Allan, who wrote the script with Jennifer Crittenden, describes WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER?  as “the story of a woman who’s been living by everybody else’s rules for a long time. She finally meets somebody who challenges her to be honest about who she is. Ally comes to accept that she’s not like everybody else, and that she has been trying to live up to impossible expectations.  It’s the story of a woman coming into her own.”

Several of these story elements and themes are found in the book upon which the screenplay is based, “20 Times a Lady,” by Karyn Bosnak.  “I had read somewhere that the average American woman had 10.5 sexual partners, but many of the people I had spoken with had higher numbers,” recalls the author.  “So I decided to give Ally twice the national average – giving her even more reason to freak out.”   Ally’s dismay at realizing she may have approached some kind of un-magical milestone points to another inviolable truth in the battle of the sexes over: women subtract; men add.  Meaning that guys will boast of more sexual conquests than they really had, and women will admit to fewer than the actual number.  “Women and men both lie about that number – to anyone and everyone,” says Bosnak.

“I’ve done what Ally does in the film,” admits Gabrielle Allan. “I’ve gone backwards to not raise my number.  I really related to Ally even though her quest is crazy and neurotic.  It’s important to Ally, and I remember it being important to me. I think that a woman keeping track of her number and the reason why she’s keeping track, was a fun idea.”

Whatever the veracity of a person’s “number,” Bosnak says the story’s most important message is being true to oneself.  “If you’re examining your past, you should never regret the reasons you did certain things, because you can’t change them, and all those choices made you who you are.”

What’s Your Number? opens October 5 in theaters from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.