A role reversal that gets in the way

Rating: 6/10 (2 March 2012)

The moment this film sets out to present a girl's idea of what a man would desire most - an ongoing, no strings, purely sexual relationship with a beautiful woman - we see the flaws in this premise as a desirable arrangement either sex could make last for any length of time. And what this screenplay does best is to highlight how we try to protect ourselves from risk by whatever method we think works best. Although the script does a reasonable job with the flaws it really doesn't explain how such a premise could even enter someone's head without there being a string attached, no matter how flawed their character is.
But the idea provokes a fairly entertaining series of episodes where the leads Emma (Portman) and Adam (Kutcher) test each other to the point of distraction, the only difference to an ordinary romance being the falsehood constructed at the very start of the relationship.
The acting is largely good with a range of characters to ease us through the episodes that zig-zag us around the houses in a chase that has one of two endings - either they have a proper relationship or they don't, and long before the end we know the sex only thing is not working.
So we have to work quite hard to get to the conclusion but it is a pleasant enough duty to perform with Portman and Olivia Thirlby as Katie being the star turns. It is good enough to want to see again but not so great you'll regret it if you don't.
Six out of ten.