Kunis and Timberlake chemistry excellent in ‘Friends With Benefits’
Friends With Benefits
(Cert 15, 105 mins, Comedy/Romance)
Corporate headhunter Jamie (Mila Kunis) woos talented website director Dylan (Justin Timberlake) to New York and secures his employment at GQ magazine.
Since they both have wounded hearts, Jamie and Dylan agree that it would be perfectly acceptable to enjoy no-strings-attached sex without any possibility of them falling for each other like the sappy Hollywood romantic comedies they both loathe.
“No relationship, no emotions, just sex,” stipulates Jamie.
While Dylan’s sexually voracious gay work colleague, Tommy (Woody Harrelson), and Jamie’s hippy mother, Lorna (Patricia Clarkson), foresee trouble on the horizon, the two professionals continue with their agreement, blind to the consequences of their couplings. Friends With Benefits bears obvious similarities to the Natalie Portman-Ashton Kutcher comedy No Strings Attached.
The two films peddle the same myth that you can divorce sex and emotions, and in both cases, carnal desires kindle far deeper emotions for the bed-hopping protagonists.
Timberlake and Kunis are ably supported by Harrelson in scene-stealing form and the resplendent Clarkson, who stumbles upon her daughter in flagrante and coos, “Ooh, it’s like the ’70s in here!” The subplot about Dylan’s father (Richard Jenkins) succumbing to Alzheimer’s is lightly addressed, providing a modicum of substance beneath all of the fluffy wrapping.
Initially, Will Gluck’s romantic comedy rages against the cheesy tropes of Hollywood romantic comedies.
Then in a staggering volte-face, the film embraces every one of those same conventions to hopefully bring together its two perfectly matched protagonists.
Gluck wants to have his cake and eat it but we’re the ones who choke on the sugary contrivances.
Rating: 3/5.
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