Friends with Benefits (2011–109 mins) Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake and Patricia Clarkson

Immediately upon getting “Friends with Benefits” from the Red Box I started to think about the Kutcher/Portman movie “No Strings Attached”. As always in Hollywood, there are always competing projects on good subjects. And the subject of casual sex never gets old. So what we get are the competition of Kutcher/Portman and Kunis/Timberlake. I will save you some time and just say you can catch my review of “No Strings Attached” HERE. Long story short on both of these movies…. not only did I like the Kutcher rom-com, but I liked this one with Kunis/JT even more.

Friends brings Kunis out to the west coast as a head hunter for GQ magazine. She is hunting for the next big art exec for the company and is out to bring JT to NY for the job. The two outgoing people become friends and soon sex-buddies. Of course neither want a relationship but as with all of these casual sex movies they both start to have those feelings, and I will leave it at that.

Where Friends succeeds and Strings fails  is the whiny side. Don’t get me wrong both are GREAT movies but Strings has a little bit more of the whiny down slope then Friends does. Right when you think Friends might be becoming whiny it closes it up a bit and fixes the problem. Kunis (like Portman) is extremely hot and extremely likable/funny in the film so that’s a wash. JT and Kutcher are both outgoing funny guys who have great comedic timing but JT has a quality that he doesn’t come across goofy all the time like Kutcher tends to— Advantage Friends. The supporting cast is more friend based in Strings and they are all above avgerage and funny, where in Friends the supporting cast is more family. The only real friend in the flick is Woody Harrelson, who while funny and all just doesn’t match the ensemble that Strings brings to the table— Advantage Strings.

See both movies bring a ton of positives to them, and both are the same running time(give or take a min) but Strings will feel longer b/c of the slight whiny factor. So when in doubt and forced to pick one pick out Friends with Benefits. But make sure you grab Strings for the next date (just not both together!).

Verdict–> A great date movie (just not for the 1st date–would be too uncomfortable) which is funny and a ton of fun. Pair it up with a good action romp or drama for a perfect double feature. I think guys and girls a like would like it. A top recommendation which could end up on my top 10 movies of the year.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS