Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher charm their clothes off in "No Strings Attached"

Rating: 6/10 (24 January 2011)

Adam (Ashton Kutcher) works as an assistant for a "High School Musical" type television show and is deeply in love with his girlfriend, Vanessa (Ophelia Lovibond). One day out of the blue, Vanessa tells Adam that she is leaving him because she isn't happy with his current lifestyle. To make matters even worst, Adam finds out that Vanessa left him for is his own father, Alvin (Kevin Kline). Now depressed and looking for affection, Adam turns to booze, his two best friends, and his cell phone as a way to relieve the pain. This is when Adam gets the brilliant idea to dial every woman in his phone book and try to convince one of them to sleep with him. After waking up from a drunken stupor, Adam finds himself in a apartment belonging to Emma (Natalie Portman), whom he has had a crush on since their summer at camp together. Happy to see her, Adam tries to pursue a relationship with Emma only to find out that she doesn't want to get involved in one. This is when the pair decides to try out a friends with benefits relationship with the hopes that neither of them begin to fall for one another. A surprisingly decent romantic comedy ensues...
After reading my plot description for the film, you are probably thinking to yourself that this can't possibly be good; it sounds so incredibly clichéd. While it is clichéd, the film itself is actually believable with real life scenarios. The fact that Portman's character Emma works in a hospital only helps with how believable the story is. I have friends who work in a hospital and I know how crappy their schedules can be. The fact that Emma has no time for relationships seems believable based on her career choice. Add on to the fact that Emma is afraid of commitment and being hurt only makes it more believable. A lot of the story works because of Emma. That's not saying that Ashton Kutcher's character didn't help the story because it did. Sure Adam was a nice guy but he was actually believable here. He worked as an assistant and not as some high profile role. He was just a normal everyday guy in this film and actually didn't seem like a cocky jerk or douche-bag like he normally comes off as in his previous films.
Along with believable human characteristics, Portman and Kutcher chemistry was the key element that made the film work. They have terrific chemistry with one another and even if you don't normally like Kutcher (like me) you can't help but admit he is likable here. The two play off one another from the get go and as the film goes on you can truly feel that these two people are in fact falling in love. Portman is extremely charming as Emma but also plays a very strong character, who believes she can truly take care of herself and doesn't need anyone. Her character here reminded me a lot like Anne Hathaway's character in "Love and Other Drugs" minus the illness subplot. I have met many women in my past who share a lot of the same characteristics that Emma had and the way Portman portrayed that role just added to it working.
While I had good things to say about the film, I also have some negatives. There were three elements about the film that really irked me. The first one was Kevin Kline, who I normally love as an actor, but he was a horrible miscast here. He just seemed out of place and his character just felt like an unnecessary filler. The next thing was the over abundance of sex jokes that seem to come flying out at the audience at a mile a minute pace. There were way too many of them and out of every 20 I would say about one or two of them worked. I get that this was a sex comedy, it's a film about two people having a friends with benefits relationship, but I don't need the jokes reinforcing that fact thrown at me every single minute. The last thing that really bugged me was the whole "Judd Apatow Effect" element of the film. I have mentioned this in a previous review but I hate when a film goes from a raunchy comedy to a romantic comedy with heart. To add to the typical "Apatow effect" there are usually a few best friend characters who seem to be there for plucky 'sexual remarks' comic relief. This film holds these qualities and I find this formula overused already. I didn't even see a point to Ludicrous (Wallace) even being in the film at all.
In the end, "No Strings Attached" is as predictable as it looks from the trailers but it doesn't end up being a complete disaster like one would expect. Portman and Kutcher both have great chemistry together and play realistic characters, which help make this simplistic and clichéd story work. While I feel this role is beneath Portman at this point in her career, it was nice seeing her play a role where she can have a little fun. I thought it was hilarious when Portman described Adam waving his penis around as well as the one-liners she spit out when the two played mini golf. Kutcher didn't make me a fan (at least not yet) but he did actually get me to enjoy him in a film. The film was enjoyable for what it was and provided some good laughs and some nice romance even with its flaws. I recommend this one to most who are looking for a decent date movie. It's definitely one of the better ones released from a major studio in the past few years.
MovieManMenzel's final rating for "No Strings Attached" is a 6.5 out of 10.