Friends with Benefits

Friends with Benefits

Friends with Benefits is another ‘chick flick’ that I have to say, with embarrassment, that i actually enjoyed.  It was in large part due to the comedic acting and great chemistry of the two leads; Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake.  I’ve said this before about Justin, but he truly is outgrowing his boy band past and becoming a Hollywood star.  And Mila Kunis to me was always the annoying girl on ‘That 70’s Show’,but she is maturing into a movie star in her own right in the mold of a Meg Ryan.  This is one of those mediocre movies that the actor’s abilities brought out something that made it truly enjoyable.

Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and Jamie (Mila Kunis) are two young professionals who are good friends.  They think that adding the simple act of sex to their friendship would be both easy and convenient despite what Hollywood comedies would have you believe.  Of course, complications do arise, otherwise you wouldn’t have a movie.  While this movie is  light-hearted, I think that they showcase some great observations about the nature of modern male-female relationships.  The line between friendship and romance is tight and you cannot easily cross back and forth between the two.  The dialogue is smart and funny, but the true showcase is the chemistry between Dylan and Jamie.  They are fun to watch and their closeness and comfort with each other seems genuine.  

While lying on the couch one day watching cheesy ‘chick flicks’  (the on-screen parodies of the chick flicks they were watching were almost as enjoyable as the movie) and commiserating over their failed relationships, Dylan comes up with the idea of the two of them having sex until their romantic lives get back on track with someone else.  After setting some ground rules, the two of them decide this is something that could work.  In fact, it could be better as they have no reason to hide anything from each other or be anything less than blunt about their likes and dislikes.  Some of the funniest moments in the movie are the arguments they have during sex.

Of course, sex with a friend starts to confuse boundaries and the film starts to fall prey to the complications inherent in all chick flicks.  One thing that I always find distracting in these films is just how well off financially characters in their mid-twenties are living in New York.  Justin has a glamour job as art director at GQ magazine.  His apartment alone made it worth my trip to see this film.  Mila seems less well off, but is still very prosperous as a corporate head hunter.  Anyway, fantasy jobs aside, Dylan brings Jamie into his family’s life and with his family’s utter acceptance of Jamie, the definition of what they have really becomes complicated.

The movie is meant to be an un-romantic romantic comedy.  It scores much of it’s humor from laughing at traditional romantic comedies on the road to becoming one itself.  They even throw in cliche side kicks.  Why is it that in these films the best friends of the leads are always quirky or eccentric?  There must be a template out there. Woody Harrelson plays an over the top flamboyant gay sports writer.  I must admit that he was funny, but it was so over the top sometimes that I go back to that word; ‘distracting’. 

All cliches (which the movie openly embraces) and obviousness aside, this movie does have honest dialogue as well as exploration of interesting perspectives between me and women.  It is a great movie to see if you are in the mood for a long discussion afterwards about what you saw.  It’s nice to see Justin and Mila forging an onscreen relationship that might lead to other movies featuring the two of them.

I rate this movie *** stars