Quick, Smart, and Self Aware

Rating: Null/10 (28 July 2011)

Another R-rated comedy? Come on, right?
Okay, even though this summer has seen the release of a litter of R- rated pups, including Horrible Bosses and Bridesmaids, there's definitely room for WIll Gluck's fast paced effort, Friends with Benefits.
Beyond the obvious similarities to No Strings Attached, the barely watchable rom-com that left everyone wondering how the hell Natalie Portman came off as less charismatic than Ashton Kutcher, Friends With Benefits is a sharp and satirical look at the modern landscape of romantic comedies.
A comparison to Scream isn't exactly off the mark here, as many of the same self-aware elements that worked in Scream work for Friends With Benefits. There are obvious breaks of the fourth wall when the rom-com clichés are checked off the list, but Friends With Benefits knows what it is, a romantic comedy, and a fun one at that.
During the opening few minutes, Jamie (Miila Kunis) and Dylan (Justin Timberlake) are both dumped by their respective significant others, prompting each to decide that it's time to take a break from everything resembling an emotional relationship. These opening bits are truthful, biting, and played off with a wonderful wink and smile to set up the entire tone of Friends With Benefits right from the starting gate.
Dylan is a veritable hot-shot at a dot-com when head hunter Jamie is hired to wrangle him as GQ's newest art director. When Jamie wines and dines Dylan in New York, attempting to close the deal on his taking the GQ gig, there are moments of genuine chemistry between the on-screen couple. Kunis, who is at the absolute peak of her celebrity right now, is charming, beautiful, and generally full of a real personality. Jamie is not perfect, and Kunis plays that perfectly.
On the flip side, Timberlake is extremely well cast, pulling on his boyish charms and good looks to breeze his way through lines and moments that could be extremely corny, but come off with poise and ease in his hands. Timberlake has now earned his place in movies -- he can stay, even though this and his performance in The Social Network feel more "directed" than "acted" per se, he's been smart in choosing roles that fit him as he gets his feet wet. Honestly, it sounds like the start that a lot of mainstay Hollywood stars have had.
After a few months in New York, Dylan and Jamie decide that they should adopt a friend with benefits lifestyle, as each are done with the dating game. After the ground rules are set, the two get to it. These first sex scenes between the two are some of the most entertaining in the movie, with Gluck's direction never letting one joke linger too long, just in case it didn't hit with the impact it needed. The first half of the film is a combination of clever writing (think Nora Ephron, but she's grown up with the internet) and quick editing to keep the pace and flow as upbeat as possible (exactly the same way Easy A , Gluck's previous effort, operated).
The plot finally comes around, as the back and forth connection between Dylan and Jamie becomes apparent, and the two are forced to actually deal with their feelings for each other, and share other feelings between each other as well. Friends With Benefits is a romantic comedy, so the typical situations of overhearing a conversation that was misunderstood and a brief entrance of a potential love interest are all in place. It's obvious Friends With Benefits is aware of the mold, but it's not about to go breaking it, either.
Overall: It's obvious that Gluck is perfecting the art of the new rom- com. Fired Up!, Easy A, and now Friends WIth Benefits have given rise to the John Hughes of the internet generation. Pulling in the best elements from the classic '30s and '40s ethereal cinematic romances, touches of Woody Allen's pace and conversational flow, and dialing up a Nora Ephron-esque charm in his screenplays (and screenplay adaptations), Will Gluck has another winner -- far better than that "other" sex without attachment movie.
Easter Egg: When Jamie is waiting to pick up Dylan from the airport, notice the name on the sheet of paper she steals: O. Penderghast. (Olive Penderghast was Emma Stone's character in Easy A.)