Favorable, yet familiar

Rating: 6/10 (30 July 2011)

Friends With Benefits, while good, serves as one of many 2011 sizable disappointments next to Bad Teacher. Maybe I don't like this type of cliché storytelling, but I think what is partially to blame is that the film is marketed like a laugh-out-loud comedy, when really, it's more or so made up of the occasional chuckle and the rom-com parody that is more clever than funny. Still, it is in no way bad, just misleading and expected.
The big thing with this film that I found very smart and very effective is its cast. Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are some of today's hottest celebrities. Timberlake is popular with the ladies, and Mila Kunis is popular with the men (I am no exception). Not to mention, we get cameos by Emma Stone and The Lonely Island's Andy Samberg. If this isn't an ensemble comedy cast, I don't know what is.
Right off the bat, when thinking of this film, the film No Strings Attached comes to mind which came out earlier this year. I say big deal. If we can have multiple superhero films come out this year, each one dopier than the next, multiple comedies about grown men trying to have sex, and even CGI-ed Alvin in the Chipmunks, Garfield, and The Smurfs, I don't see why two films focusing on the same topic, asking the same question can't be made.
The plot is as simple as it has ever been. Dylan (Timberlake) is an art director who works in Los Angeles. Jamie (Kunis) is an Executive Recruiter who tries to recruit Dylan for GQ Magazine. Both have been recently dumped, and miss sex, but don't feel the problems that follow sex are worth it. Dylan and Jamie meet, they become close, and they both agree they are emotionally complex in some way. So they decide to have casual sex, no feelings, nothing personal, just sex. They swear on the Bible - iPad that is.
Dylan meets and befriends the sports writer for the magazine, Tommy (Harrelson) who is one of the funniest characters in the film. He gives Dylan advice like a straight man, when really he thinks a man and a woman together is "creepy." This film is funny, but not as funny as it suggests. It is better than No Strings Attached by a little. For one thing, it treats its characters like human beings and not just "Man" and "Woman." Not to mention, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are clearly having fun with their characters.
The humor, most of it coming from Kunis, comes natural and isn't forced. But I would've thought more laugh-out-loud moments came out of this picture. The trailer suggests this was nonstop comedy from two shining stars. I only recall laughing-out-loud twice in this film, and I dare not speak the scenes.
Vulgarity in Friends With Benefits is one thing it does right. It has a lot of it, but enough of it. It isn't in every sentence, yet it isn't squeaky clean. Plus, it's always fun to see a couple having a serious conversation throwing in swear words like fourteen year olds.
I liked Friends With Benefits, but I left disappointed. Maybe this formula is near-impossible to freshen up because of the inevitable outcome everyone sees coming from the moment they sit down in the theater. It's not a bad thing to be cliché, especially in a time like this where it's hard to avoid. It just doesn't work in the film's favor. There are scenes where the film tries to parody other rom-coms, and is successful at that. But what this boils down to is a good comedy, with a disappointing effect. It gets us where we need to be, but then says "eee, uhh. I'm done." Starring: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, Andy Samberg, and Richard Jenkins. Directed by: Will Gluck.