Friends With Benefits (2011)

Thank you for taking a look at Movies In The Rockies. This blog will take a stab at reviewing movies from the eyes, ears and mind of my non-hollywood mind. I am not an artist, insider or expert. I just like movies and want to share some opinions. Each review will start with a quick synopsis of the film, followed by my perceptions. A final rating will be given with the following rating scale:


Sea Level = The movie falls short of climbing even to the first tier Altitude.


Colorado Plains = The movie starts moving upward but lacks the legs to take it to the hills.


Foot Hills = The movie has legs, but air has left the lungs and stops the movie in its tracks.


Montains = The movie has legs & lungs.


14ers = This movie has eclipsed the summit.

(SPOILER ALERT: THE SYNOPSIS BELOW WILL EXPOSE THE PLOT)

I have decided to add a spoiler alert to my posts as I do preview the movie for all of my readers. However, Friends with Benefits' plot was spoiled with the title and the previews that you have all seen leading up to the release so feel free to read on. This review will most likely tell you very little about the plot of the movie that you didn't already know.

Will Gluck is on a mini-roll. In 2010 Gluck directed the critically acclaimed comedy Easy-A and then picked up the directing nod for Friends with Benefits. Both are relationship comedys with a little bit of a twist. It's actually very fortunate that I was able to make it out to Friends With Benefits as this is not normally a movie that I would choose. As fate had it, my lovely wife Kellie was picking the details of our date night and she chose Mexican Food and Friends With Benefits. By the way, it's never a good idea to mix cheese enchiladas covered in spicy green chili with movie popcorn, although it does lead to a "Rich" experience at about 2:00AM. I could become very sophomoric but I'm going to just move on.

Friends With Benefits has all of the ingredients for a big Hollywood money maker. 1. Romantic Comedy theme. 2. Big name stars (Justin Timberlake and Mina Kunis). 3. Sex.

The movie starts with Dylan (Justin Timberlake) meeting Jamie (Mina Kunis) in airport as she picks him up for a high level job interview at GQ Magazine. Jamie is an executive headhunter and Dylan is applying for the artistic director job at GQ. Jamie is trying to talk Dylan into making the move from LA to NYC but he is apprehensive. In the end Jamie wins and that is the start to the friendship. Jamie is the only person in NYC that Dylan knows so he relies on her for most of his information about NYC nightlife. He could take the advice of his gay sports editor (not that there's anything wrong with that), played by Woody Harrelson, but he has to continually remind him that he is not gay.

Jamie and Dylan become the best of friends and decide it would be a good idea to start having sex as friends since they both have emotional problems and a relationship would not be good at the present time. They are having sex like friends play tennis. JUST SEX!! NO EMOTIONS!! That always works out well, right. In the suprise twist of the year, Jamie and Dylan fall for each other but neither will admit it. When Dylan takes Jamie home after she gets stood up by her mother on a weekend getaway his family insists that they are a great couple. Dylan tells his sister that he could never fall for Jamie because she is too messed up. Sadly, Jamie overhears this and takes off early back to NYC. OMG, the friendship is on the rocks?!? Jamie will have nothing to do with Dylan even though he realizes that she is the one for him. It's going to take some major sucking up to win her back.

I won't ruin how Dylan does this but let's just say he swings for the fences and hits a Grand Slam.

During the entire 109 minutes of this movie I was not suprised by anything that I saw, with the exception of Timberlake's and Kunis' asses. This movie did have quite a few more sex scenes than your typical romantic comedy which might actually make the movie more enjoyable for my male friends. Let's face it, my male friends are simple. All they really want out of life is a beer and to see something naked. (I digress.) The banter between the characters was humorous and cutting at times. There was an attempt at a touching moment when Dylan's father is suffering from alzheimers and we get the chance to see this on the trip back to LA but the effect on everyone was not dug into deep enough, in my opinion, and therefore failed.

As romantic comedies goes this one was interesting and funny. Interestingly enough, Dylan and Jamie are intent on making sure their relationship doesn't follow the path of Cliche's that most romantic comedies are made of but they turn this movie into just that. Mina Kunis is her normal stellar self. She is an up and coming actress that I would like to see in more serious roles like her "Lily" in Black Swan where she was nominated for numerous awards. Justin Timberlake is not the best actor and was fairly average in this one, but this guy belongs in front of a camera or audience. He is entertaining and likable. I just think he could benefit from a lunch meeting with Bobby DeNiro or Kevin Spacey to talk shop. If he continues to improve he might actually start to win some acclaim other than Teen Choice award.

Friends With Benefits was the cliche it was trying not to be and woefully predictable yet somehow it managed to entertain me. Though I would like to see someone come up with a rom-com that throws a curve, until they do, casting people like Mila Kunis, Woody Harrelson and Justin Timberlake is a way to make the best of a worn out plot line. I give this movie a FOOTHILLS rating and would recommend seeing this movie when you need a laugh but don't care to think about what you just saw even a minute after seeing it.