The BETTER “No Strings Attached”
Dylan (Justin Timberlake) writes an internet blog. Jamie (Mila Kunis, who wears amazing yet very high heels throughout this movie…walking around New York City!!! How does she do that??) is a headhunter who lives and works in New York City. She meets Dylan when she is working for GQ to hire a new manager, and Dylan is perfect for the job. When he takes the position and agrees to move to NYC, Dylan and Jamie become close friends. They watch movies together, go out to lunch together, and have fun together, just like friends do.
Since Dylan and Jamie are both single now, while watching a movie one night (I can’t remember the name, but it was a typical annoying Hollywood romance, starring Jason Segel and Rashida Jones. It was funny because it was set in NYC but filmed in Los Angeles and that was painfully obvious) and enjoying a few beers, they both decide that they miss sex. So they decide to do it. They swear on an iPad bible app that it won’t ruin their friendship, and that it will be just this one time.
When they make it to the bedroom, the dialogue is very untypical yet hilarious!! Dylan admits that he is grossed out by feet, so he wears socks. ALL THE TIME (yes, even in bed). He also has a tattoo of a lightning bolt, because when he was younger he wanted to be a superhero, and he is also a fan of the Harry Potter books!! Of course, just this one time turns into many more times, until Jamie decides she wants to start dating again for real. So they go back to being friends.
Jamie meets Parker (Bryan Greenberg), a child oncologist who seems perfect, but of course he turns out to be a jerk. And Dylan has one date with a woman who is just way too into sniffing his armpits (weird!!). When Jamie gets dumped by both Parker and her mother on Fourth of July weekend, Dylan invites her to come with him to Los Angeles to visit his family.
While, there, Jamie learns about Dylan’s obsession with Kris Kross’s song “Jump” when he was younger which leads to a fun scene. They also have an incident at the Hollywood sign which ends in someone being lifted away by a helicopter. Also while there, things take a turn for the worse as Jamie overhears Dylan saying some not-so-nice things about her to his sister. She decides to head back to NYC early, and from there things get rocky between the friends, because Jamie has feelings for Dylan.
I won’t say what happens next, although it’s not too hard to figure out.
There is a lot of talk about the similarity of “Friends with Benefits” to “No Strings Attached”. Yes, they both had similar plots; however “Friends with Benefits” was WAY better. I’m not just saying that because I’m a borderline obsessive Justin Timberlake fan. The acting was better, there was actual chemistry between the lead actors, the story flowed much better, and overall it was just a lot funnier. One of the scenes near the beginning was very clever, and the fun didn’t stop there!! Also, the supporting characters were more fun in “Friends with Benefits”. Tommy (Woody Harrelson) was hilarious as the gay sports writer for GQ, who kept trying to get Dylan to go out trolling for men with him.
Dylan’s sister Annie (Jenna Elfman), her son Sam (Nolan Gould), an aspiring magician whose tricks never really went right, and Dylan’s father (Richard Jenkins) gave great performances. It was sad to see Dylan’s father suffering from Alzheimer’s. Annie and Dylan had to keep explaining to their father why their mother was no longer there (divorce) or why he couldn’t go out on his boat (they sold it), yet it was funny when he decided he didn’t like pants anymore so he took them off (at the airport). Jamie’s mother, Lorna (Patricia Clarkson, who also starred with Justin Timberlake in the SNL Digital Short “Motherlover”) was flaky yet funny. Although mother and daughter didn’t have the greatest relationship, they still got along ok overall.
Overall, “Friends with Benefits” is a raunchy, hilarious comedy that will make your stomach hurt from laughing so hard. This was another excellent movie from Will Gluck, who also directed one of my favorite movies from last year, “Easy A”. (Fun Fact: Emma Stone, who played the lead in “Easy A” has a small part in this movie as Dylan’s ex-girlfriend). Please leave the kids at home for this one!!
