Full of promises, but little delivery.

Rating: 6/10 (2 September 2011)

Set in the Big Apple, 'Friends With Benefits' (2011), follows LA-based art director Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and New Yorker corporate head-hunter Jamie (Mila Kunis), who both have been dumped by their respective partners after being labelled emotionally damaged and unavailable. After Jamie is assigned to lure Dylan to the GQ offices in New York, they quickly form a close friendship. As the title suggests, they eventually attempt to experiment with their friendship by adding sex into the equation, all the while convinced they can remain 'just-friends'.
Directed by Will Gluck, who directed and produced the brilliant 'Easy A' (2010), 'Friends With Benefits' is pretty much your run-of-the-mill rom-com. The script at the beginning offers the possibility of a unique plot line, as the characters declare Hollywood to be full of unrealistic love, however the film ends with a highly predictable finish that goes against the ideas brought forth in the first half an hour.
The two leads are solid, however, and Justin Timberlake shines somewhat in the last 30 minutes, giving his character more depth than that is usually found in romantic comedies. However it is the supporting cast that really add to the film, Patricia Clarkson as Jamie's mother is excellent, and Jenna Elfman is genuinely believable as Dylan's sister, struggling with their father's Alzheimer's. Woody Harrelson is somewhat wasted, however, as Dylan's gay friend, with the writers resorting to tiresome stereotypes for the duration of his time on screen.
Overall, while the cast is solid and there are genuine laughs to be had, the first 30 minutes promises something other than the ending that we are left with, and will inevitably go into the enormous pile of predictable rom-coms.