Friends With Benefits 2011
Though I was bracing for the worst, I was also very hopeful about this movie with two great lead actors, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, in a romantic comedy directed by Will Gluck who did a nice job on Easy A. Mila Kunis had done so well in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Justin Timberlake seems like he can do just about anything. There are also a lot of good side characters, not least of which is Woody Harrelson as an enthusiastically homosexual buddy of the guy (see how different this movie is? usually the girl has the gay friend).
The movie starts well enough with Justin Timberlake as the head a successful web magazine who is recruited to New York by a headhunter, played by Kunis. They have both just gone through breakups and Kunis wants to sell Timberlake on the job by selling him on New York. They become good friends and, while hanging out talking about sex, decide to give the whole “friends with benefits” thing a try. At this point the movie gets decidedly explicit without a huge amount of nudity, like watching a Cosmo article about Great Things Guys Do in Bed. It is surprising to see such high dollar leads doing such raunchy material, though they do a good job with it. After that initial success, the movie begins the inevitable plot twists that you know are coming the whole time, including some cloying scenes back home with Timberlake’s family, different romantic interests, etc. Sorry, it’s just incredibly hard to find new ground here and the movie doesn’t even try. During the movie there are pieces shown of a movie-within-the-movie of a horrible romantic comedy, the main point of which seems to be: Look, this movie could have been a lot worse if we wanted it to be.
So while I thought the leads were good, the script and story let them down. It is probably still worth watching if you don’t mind a romantic comedy with a distinctly raunchy edge to it. The side bits and cameos keep it interesting.
Written: 18 Dec 2011
Owned on: Digital