Friends With Benefits (2011)

After the disappointing No Strings Attached (2011), Mila and Justin have the second stab of the year at a rom-com about two friends having sex with each other without getting emotionally involved. Gratefully Friends with Benefits is raunchier and on the whole much, much better.

The film starts out as a rom-com that jokes about other rom-coms. Mila Kunis plays Jamie, who is sick of romantic comedies that tell her everything will turn out ok and that true love is really out there. Justin Timberlake plays Dylan, a guy who doesn’t like to get into deep and meaningful relationships after going through his parents’ divorce. The pair first meet after Jamie head-hunts Dylan for GQ magazine. She brings Dylan to New York and persuades him to take the job. And, well you can pretty much guess what happens next.

Friends with Benefits has a slightly braver approach to the storyline than other films in the genre, with an honest look at the mechanics of sex. It’s not actually very sexy, but it is funny. Director Will Gluck did a great job with Easy A and has brought over the same comedy tone (albeit with a few more swear words) and has an easy, natural pace. That is until the third act, which is typically bland and overly serious. It has a side storyline involving Dylan’s Dad which is totally unnecessary and has too many of the clichés it was only too happy to joke about in the first two acts. Although this diminishes the films charm though, it doesn’t destroy it completely.

Timberlake and Kunis make a charismatic pair and create a decent on-screen chemistry. Kunis in particular does a great job and you could see her starring in similar roles that made household names of Reese Witherspoon and Katherine Heigl. Timberlake also rises to the occasion, giving a performance that proves he can do more than just sing, dance and, err, sing. Woody Harrelson is great in the relatively small role and gets the laughs you’d expect from a sidekick character, but once again it’s Patricia Clarkson who steals the film as Jamie’s party loving mother. Patricia was brilliant in Easy A and has done another great job for Gluck here too.

Friends with Benefits doesn’t do anything new with the rom-com but it’s certainly a lot more open about relationships then many others which makes this one of the better films of the genre. The film has plenty of charisma and laughs but ultimately fails to deliver on its early promise.