Just OK

Rating: 6/10 (2 April 2012)

Aimed squarely at the 14-30 year old crowd, BENEFITS has two young professionals becoming friends and then sexual partners, the idea being that they will not become emotionally attached. They will not be the conventional boyfriend and girlfriend as played out in the movies they love to mock. This sort of relationship is common enough in real life -- all one has to do is watch Divorce Court. But for purposes of this fantasy, we accept the situation as out of the norm. Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are the leads, and Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson and Pat Clarkson are on hand for support. Veteran character actor Richard Jenkins plays Timerlake's dad who is slowly slipping into dementia. The sex scenes are tame for an R-rated flick, and played strictly for laughs. They are in no way erotic, for you worried parents out there. Also, for most of the movie, Kunis doesn't look all that appealing. Her makeup and hair are all wrong until the closing scenes, when she finally looks like the attractive actress we know.Perhaps this was done on purpose. I suspect it was.