Director: Will Gluck
Writers: Will Gluck, Harley Peyton, Keith Merryman, David A. Newman
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis
Release Date: July 22, 2011
Length: 1 hour 49 minutes
Up and coming director Will Gluck of last fall’s success Easy A, takes on the done to death premise of “friends having sex without personal feelings, who then unintentionally fall in love” and somehow makes it incredibly refreshing in this summer’s Friends With Benefits. The film starts off with a headhunter named Jamie Randall (Mila Kunis), who recruits website designer Dylan Sanders from L.A. for a job designing GQ magazine’s website in New York. After being won over by Jamie’s efforts, Dylan moves to New York for the job and the pair quickly become good friends. Both coming out of long terrible relationships, Dylan with his crazy ex Kayla (Emma Stone) and Jamie with her insensitive ex Quincy (Andy Samberg), and both missing having sex, they decide one night they will sleep together without any emotions and without any judgment. As Jamie and Dylan continue their unromantic relationship though, they inadvertently become closer and find it hard to pretend they don’t actually have feelings for each other and don’t know how to deal with the fact that they unexpectedly do. Gluck, who co-wrote the film as well, takes old scraps and makes them new and fun again with the unbelievably clever and hilarious script of Friends With Benefits, with co-writers Harley Peyton, David A. Newman and Keith Merryman. The characters are written so intelligently that it’s as if we are seeing this used plot happen to real believable people for the first time. There is nothing left to waste in this film with every scene being filled with witty dialogue and no room for boring clichés. The characters interestingly have to make fun of and discuss the unrealistic elements of romantic comedies for us to really see this film as a completely original and well-done romantic comedy. This actually makes the audience really appreciate the beautiful authentic shots of New York, like Central Park, Times Square, and the real Grand Central Station. Things like production design are sometimes side swept in importance of a romantic comedy because it’s often just all about the two leads but Michael Grady shows that cinematography is equally effective in every genre of film. There has been a lot of interest in the fact that Friends With Benefits resembles the film No Strings Attached, which came out earlier this year, in January. Premise-wise the films are identical, but when it get’s down to the actual quality and room for originality in the film, Friends With Benefits trumps No Strings Attached hands-down. While writing the script, Gluck apparently pictured Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake in the roles they eventually ended up playing, and for good reason. The two share an undeniable chemistry equally strong in both comedy and romance. It’s hard to find a good romantic comedy duo, but Kunis and Timberlake wittily bounce off each other’s humor amazingly and perform wonderfully in the dramatic sequences of the film as well. They easily override Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher and are the most memorable romcom pair since Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in 2009’s The Proposal. Kunis and Timberlake are superb in carrying the hilarious film, but are well supported by the enormously talented ensemble cast. Patricia Clarkson is hysterical as Jamie’s free-spirited horny mom while Richard Jenkins is fantastic as Dylan’s dad suffering from Alzheimer’s. Woody Harrelson is random and wildly funny as Dylan’s gay friend and co-worker and Jenna Elfman is great in her both funny and serious performance as Dylan’s sister living with their dad. All romantic comedies and most comedies have those moments approaching the end of the film, where things get serious in the plot and more often than not these comedic writers are not in their element. Instead of just being realistic, these scenes are quite aggressively “dramatic” and instead of flowing with the film, contrast against it completely. That is why Friends With Benefits so beautifully stands out from other funny films because it does not switch genres 3 quarters of the way through. Instead, you realize the film was never a strict comedy, just a funny film and now the characters are facing the reality of their situation without it being dead serious. The film has a perfect blend of romance, comedy and drama and has a hell of a cast to boot. Gluck’s Friends With Benefits is one of the greatest romantic comedies to come to theatres in a while and by far, one of the best films of the summer. Do not miss out on this incredibly enjoyable movie.
Writers: Will Gluck, Harley Peyton, Keith Merryman, David A. Newman
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis
Release Date: July 22, 2011
Length: 1 hour 49 minutes
Up and coming director Will Gluck of last fall’s success Easy A, takes on the done to death premise of “friends having sex without personal feelings, who then unintentionally fall in love” and somehow makes it incredibly refreshing in this summer’s Friends With Benefits. The film starts off with a headhunter named Jamie Randall (Mila Kunis), who recruits website designer Dylan Sanders from L.A. for a job designing GQ magazine’s website in New York. After being won over by Jamie’s efforts, Dylan moves to New York for the job and the pair quickly become good friends. Both coming out of long terrible relationships, Dylan with his crazy ex Kayla (Emma Stone) and Jamie with her insensitive ex Quincy (Andy Samberg), and both missing having sex, they decide one night they will sleep together without any emotions and without any judgment. As Jamie and Dylan continue their unromantic relationship though, they inadvertently become closer and find it hard to pretend they don’t actually have feelings for each other and don’t know how to deal with the fact that they unexpectedly do. Gluck, who co-wrote the film as well, takes old scraps and makes them new and fun again with the unbelievably clever and hilarious script of Friends With Benefits, with co-writers Harley Peyton, David A. Newman and Keith Merryman. The characters are written so intelligently that it’s as if we are seeing this used plot happen to real believable people for the first time. There is nothing left to waste in this film with every scene being filled with witty dialogue and no room for boring clichés. The characters interestingly have to make fun of and discuss the unrealistic elements of romantic comedies for us to really see this film as a completely original and well-done romantic comedy. This actually makes the audience really appreciate the beautiful authentic shots of New York, like Central Park, Times Square, and the real Grand Central Station. Things like production design are sometimes side swept in importance of a romantic comedy because it’s often just all about the two leads but Michael Grady shows that cinematography is equally effective in every genre of film. There has been a lot of interest in the fact that Friends With Benefits resembles the film No Strings Attached, which came out earlier this year, in January. Premise-wise the films are identical, but when it get’s down to the actual quality and room for originality in the film, Friends With Benefits trumps No Strings Attached hands-down. While writing the script, Gluck apparently pictured Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake in the roles they eventually ended up playing, and for good reason. The two share an undeniable chemistry equally strong in both comedy and romance. It’s hard to find a good romantic comedy duo, but Kunis and Timberlake wittily bounce off each other’s humor amazingly and perform wonderfully in the dramatic sequences of the film as well. They easily override Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher and are the most memorable romcom pair since Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in 2009’s The Proposal. Kunis and Timberlake are superb in carrying the hilarious film, but are well supported by the enormously talented ensemble cast. Patricia Clarkson is hysterical as Jamie’s free-spirited horny mom while Richard Jenkins is fantastic as Dylan’s dad suffering from Alzheimer’s. Woody Harrelson is random and wildly funny as Dylan’s gay friend and co-worker and Jenna Elfman is great in her both funny and serious performance as Dylan’s sister living with their dad. All romantic comedies and most comedies have those moments approaching the end of the film, where things get serious in the plot and more often than not these comedic writers are not in their element. Instead of just being realistic, these scenes are quite aggressively “dramatic” and instead of flowing with the film, contrast against it completely. That is why Friends With Benefits so beautifully stands out from other funny films because it does not switch genres 3 quarters of the way through. Instead, you realize the film was never a strict comedy, just a funny film and now the characters are facing the reality of their situation without it being dead serious. The film has a perfect blend of romance, comedy and drama and has a hell of a cast to boot. Gluck’s Friends With Benefits is one of the greatest romantic comedies to come to theatres in a while and by far, one of the best films of the summer. Do not miss out on this incredibly enjoyable movie.
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