Friends with Benefits
After seeing “No Strings Attached”, it was clear that this film must be watched as well, and if it’s just for comparison’s sake. I had a feeling that “Friends with Benefits” would be the better film because it garnered much better reviews, and so it had to come second.
Well, the comparison is awfully easy. “No Strings Attached” was stupid and conservative to the point of being almost infuriating, whereas “Friends with Benefits” might be a little simple but certainly didn’t have this touch of conservativeness to it – thankfully nobody marries in it at least. While “No Strings Attached” is a rom-com (this somewhat pejorative abbreviation for “romantic comedy” totally fits its description), “Friends with Benefits” is much more like a modern screwball comedy: People fast-talk throughout the funniest scenes, and the unusual, hilarious, beautifully shot beginning captures silly break-ups so well that I immediately got a good start into the film. “This is a movie I want to see more of”, I thought. Furthermore, sex scenes are shot with a pleasant easiness. Unlike in “No Strings Attached” (which tries to be raunchy and ‘exciting’), the actors simply stay in the bedroom, but they display the actual convenience of being in a non-emotional relationship: You can say openly what you want without having to feel embarrassed about it.
Certainly the film has a few weaknesses. Somebody is trying to play Woody Allen by putting a lot of New York love into this, the film was way too short (I think there are a lot of scenes especially with the mother and the gay friend which got cut out) and the film becomes a little emo after the amusing sex part is over. The characters’ confident and funny front is obviously only a mask to hide their lack of self-esteem, but all of that felt really lovely because it pretty much makes sense.
If you want to watch only one of these two sex friends movies, I’d definitely say you should go for this one. Justin Timberlake is a million times funnier than Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis owns Natalie Portman by a million. Here’s hoping that she will become a big star like she deserves.