I’m not the biggest fan of romantic comedies for one reason, they all usually have the same ending and the story is incredibly predictable. It’s cliché after cliché after cliché with a bit of humor thrown in between it all. Now, I can’t say No Strings Attached doesn’t have clichés but it has the least amount that I’ve ever seen in a romantic comedy. While it should be called friends with benefits we can’t do that, because Portman’s Black Swan co-star Mila Kunis is coming out with her own movie with that very title featuring Justin Timberlake. Weird, huh? Hit the jump to find out why I was surprisingly entertained with No Strings Attached.
The film, which is directed by Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters), stars Ashton Kutcher as the sweetest guy in the world who also happens to have a crush on Natalie Portman. Portman, on the other hand, stars as his ‘friend with benefits’ and happens to be the one that doesn’t want to invest any more than sex into the relationship. She does everything in her power to prevent herself from becoming emotionally invested into a relationship that, most likely, will form between the two.
The premise is simple enough but the question really is, how annoying is Ashton Kutcher in the film? Surprisingly, he’s not. I actually thought he did a fantastic job and he ended up making me laugh a lot more than I thought I was going to. Low expectations can be an extremely good thing sometimes. Natalie Portman was great as the sharp, witty sex fiend that used her aggressive personality to garner laughs from the crowd. The chemistry on screen was quite impressive at times but it was the supporting characters that really brought the film together. Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda), Lake Bell (What Happens in Vegas), Mindy Kaling (40 Year Old Virgin) and Ludracris came in strong and had me laughing when I least expected it. Ludacris was the big surprise though, he was almost as memorable as P. Diddy in Get Him to the Greek if you can remember that.
While the film was entertaining, it did have its flaws. For example, there were too many subplots to follow, while it may have added some humor, it also made some of the jokes forced and almost irrelevant at times. It’s as if they were just thrown in there for shits and giggles. Also, the film is 110 minutes, almost two hours long, and while I didn’t really notice the time when I was watching it, I’m sure some won’t have the patience for it, especially when the subplots keep popping up, but prepare yourself, because it is a tad long for a rom com.
I will say this, there was one scene that really made me smile because, especially in a romatic comedy, this type of “turn of events” never happens, it took the regular cliché and did the exact opposite which resulted in actual cheering from the audience in addition to satisfied looks from members of the reviewing press. If you can spot what I’m talking about in the film then leave a comment to see if we’re on the same page.
Overall, this is a perfect date movie. It isn’t the piece of crap I thought it was going to be but it also isn’t a piece of rom com gold. It is an entertaining, non-cliché driven film that regular filmgoers will enjoy. So men, don’t be afraid to enter the theater when you find out that Kutcher is in the film because, to be honest, this is one of his best performances to date and it doesn’t involve him being a little bitch like the trailers make him out to be-plus Portman is in it and can be very sexy at times. As for women, it’s ok to suggest this to your man, I’m sure he won’t regret you taking him unless he is a monotonous stubborn fool because, at that point, he will probably hate it before he even sees it.
Rating: A rather entertaining romantic comedy minus that eliminates the typical clichés you’d expect from one
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