Friends With Benefits | Review
Last year director Will Gluck proved he could take the high school-teenage-comedy genre, add something new, and shake it up a bit, adding up to one of the funniest movies of 2010, ‘Easy A‘. This time Gluck takes a jab at the romantic-comedy genre, and although the film’s formula had already been done earlier this year, ‘Friends With Benefits’ succeeds from its impeccable cast, zippy pace, hilarious jokes and dialogue, and the wonderful chemistry between its two leads, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis.
‘Friends With Benefit’s’ timing is slightly unfortunate since earlier this year another film by the name of ‘No Strings Attached’ came out, and both films tackle the same subject matter. Both revolve around two best friends who decide to have sex constantly, but without the complications of feelings or a relationship. What ‘Friends With Benefits’ tries to do different is have its characters more hip, having seen plenty of romcom cliches and try not to follow it. But of course, with any romantic comedy with as likable leads as Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, the characters end up following the very same cliches they tried to avoid. The two leads’ characters fall in love and run into problems, and embark on a journey of self-learning and true love, that’s predictable. But it’s extremely fun and satisfying seeing Timberlake and Kunis go through all of this, especially with a great script like this.
Justin Timberlake plays Dylan, an art director for an internet website in Los Angeles, and Mile Kunis plays Jamie, who’s job is to recruit employees through a job agency in New York City. When Dylan gets the opportunity to work for GQ Magazine in NYC, Jamie shows him around the city and convinces him to take the job. As the two hang out, party, and have dinner they become closer and better friends. When Dylan reveals he’s emotionally unavailable and Jamie reveals she’s emotionally damaged, the two come up with the idea to have sex without feelings. One things leads to another, and soon the two fall for each other.
The plot eventually involves both Jamie and Dylan attempting to date other people, which add some humorous moments, as well as some emotional ones, to the film. A trip to Dylan’s childhood home in Los Angeles helps ground the film and add some fun, heart-warming moments. Dylan’s family consists of his strickenly-ill father, played marvelously by Richard Jenkins (‘Step Brothers’); Dylan’s loving sister Annie (Jenna Elfman); and his nephew Sam, played by ‘Modern Family’s’ Nolan Gould. The rest of the supporting cast is great, too, with Patricia Clarkson (‘Easy A’) portraying Jamie’s unreliable mother, and Woody Harrelson (‘Zombieland’) as Dylan’s gay co-worker.
Something unique ‘Friends With Benefits’ does is play upon a certain joke or subject matter continuously. In lower films this would get tiresome and tedious, but in this film it never feels that way. Certain jokes come up more than once, such as more than one app joke, more than one tattoo joke, more than one Hudson River-Plane-Incident joke, etc. This is an honest quality within the film because in real life, best friends have inside jokes or running-on-gags, and Dylan and Jamie are supposed to be the best of friends in the film. This factor in the film particularly caught my attention and it’s a small thing, but it’s praise-worthy.
Last year, Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake showcased their talented acting abilities in serious dramas, ‘Black Swan‘ and ‘The Social Network‘ respectively. This time around the two of them have teamed up to show that they can be funny, and they surely are! Not only are Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake able to be comedic, they’re stars. The two of them together on the big screen is just pure entertainment and enjoying.
Last year, director Will Gluck’s ‘Easy A’ was one of the funniest films of the year. This year Gluck does it again with ‘Friends With Benefits’, which is definitely one of the funniest films this year, and one of my favorite movies in a long time.
Three and a half out of four Kents.
Extra Notes:
There are some great little cameos, including Emma Stone, Andy Samberg, Masi Oka, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, and Shaun White.
It’s kind of interesting to think ‘No Strings Attached’ came out earlier this year in January. It stars Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman. Kutcher worked with Mila Kunis in ‘That 70’s Show’, and Portman worked with Kunis last year on the critically-acclaimed ‘Black Swan’. And Portman, Kunis, and Timberlake all starred in best-film nominated features, ‘Black Swan’ and ‘The Social Network’. I can’t say the same for Ashton Kutcher.
I like that small nod to director Will Gluck’s last film, ‘Easy A’, where in this film there’s a part at the airport Kunis’ character steals a sign from someone else with the name “O. Penderghast” written on it. It obviously stands for Olive Penderghast, the protagonist of ‘Easy A’, played by Emma Stone. But wait, Emma Stone is in ‘Friends With Benefits’ for a few minutes, under a different character. If her character from a different movie is mentioned in this one, then that means there’s two Emma Stones! But- wait- urgh- does not compute!
