More Evidence There Are No Shortcuts.

Rating: Null/10 (9 August 2011)

Young urban professionals Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake become friends after Kunis (a corporate headhunter) recruits Timberlake (a high-class magazine editor) to New York City to take a job with magazine giant GQ (Gentleman's Quarterly). Their friendship blossoms as both are discontented with failed romances. Thus they decide to have a physical relationship which is meant to avoid complications and complexities of would-be deeper emotional bonds. Of course we all know this will be a recipe for all kinds of turmoil and conflict which will ultimately develop between our two leads. "Friends With Benefits" makes itself out to be a revolutionary addition to the romantic genre, but in the end it is just as predictable as dozens of its type. Kunis and Timberlake make for an interesting pairing, but their chemistry is more sporadic than it is sizzling. Richard Jenkins gives one of his finest performances as Timberlake's father who is experiencing the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, but his appearance (along with daughter Jenna Elfman) is too late and really becomes too much of a side-story that the audience does not necessarily need (I think I would have rather had a film where Jenkins' character was the focus). Patricia Clarkson is loopy and in the way as Kunis' 1970s-obsessed mother who throws out everything verbally except words of wisdom. She is almost like Kunis' daughter instead of the other way around. Also along for the ride is gay sports editor Woody Harrelson who comes around Timberlake with would-be hilarious one-liners and distorted views about relationships and life in general. Harrelson's character, like Clarkson's, was probably not needed at all in the final analysis. Tiring clichés, an interminable running time, weakly-drawn characters, and stupid gimmicks (the recurring flash mobs in particular) cause "Friends With Benefits" to collapse by its final resolution. 2.5 out of 5 stars.