Skip to content
MovieViral.com
MovieViral.com

The Latest Viral News for Films and Beyond!

  • Home
  • Movie & Viral News
    • Cloverfield Sequel
    • Reviews
    • Trailers Weekly
    • Past Viral Campaigns
  • About
    • About MovieViral
    • Meet the Team
    • Contact
  • ARG & Unfiction Forum
MovieViral.com
MovieViral.com

The Latest Viral News for Films and Beyond!

Movie Review: “Friends With Benefits”

Dan Koelsch, July 18, 2011

This year there are two studio films about friends who decide to get it on without complications. Both are romantic comedies about how the leads fall in love but fight it. Both star one actor from That 70s Show and one who has done Saturday Night Live musical parodies. So, who wins out in the battle of the same movie premise? Find out in our review of Screen Gems’ Friends With Benefits after the break.

Friends With Benefits was actually the original title for No Strings Attached, released in January of this year, so there is bound to be some confusion. Fortunately, the real Friends With Benefits, starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, fulfills the potential that No Strings Attached couldn’t reach. Kunis stars as Jamie, a headhunter for GQ who convinces Dylan (Timberlake) to leave his successful blog in Los Angeles and join the magazine in New York as creative director (I believe that’s the job’s title). The two quickly become friends and enjoy the single life, but they both miss having sex, so they decide to become friends with benefits. Things get complicated with it’s obvious to everyone but them that they develop real feelings for each other.

I’m not a big romantic comedy fan, but I can appreciate a good one when it comes around. What interested me about this film was that it was marketed as being critical of all the rom com cliches, and it definitely is. The characters constantly make jokes and comments about how terrible and unrealistic that genre is, and we even see scenes from a fake movie starring Jason Segel and Rashida Jones as the romantic leads. It’s a bit over the top, but it definitely gets the point across.

What’s really important is that this film is funny. Timberlake and Kunis have great chemistry and comedic presence, and even the supporting characters shine. Woody Harrelson steals the show as usual, playing a gay sports columnist for GQ, and Patricia Clarkson is quite different as Jamie’s mother. While I was a bit jarred by the suddenly serious storyline involving Dylan’s father (played perfectly by Richard Jenkins), it was definitely important to the plot and moving the characters forward.

Even though the film makes fun of cliches and bad humor in movies, there’s still some of those problems here, but mostly the jokes are dead on, especially since they are so true to the experience of sexual relationships. They made the most out the R rating thanks to plenty of vulgarity, sex, and nudity (mostly from the back and mostly Timberlake).

Overall, Friends With Benefits is a good kick in the pants to romantic comedies while still allowing itself to (somewhat ironically) play into the cliches we know and love. The film, directed by Will Gluck (Easy A) and written by Gluck, Keith Merryman, and David A. Newman, opens in theaters on July 22nd. 3.5/5

News Reviews Friends With BenefitsReview

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Related Posts

Cast of “Take Me Home Tonight” Reenact 80s Movies

February 12, 2011February 12, 2011

Its time to familiarize yourself with 80s movies, and Topher Grace, Anna Faris, Dan Fogler and Teresa Palmer will help you remember that decade. The music video features the entire cast from Take Me Home Tonight reenacting scenes from various 80s movies, plus a few surprise cameos. Although the music…

Read More

Home Release Review: “Broken City”

April 19, 2013April 19, 2013

If you missed the crime thriller Broken City in theaters, then you’ll have a chance to see it again when it releases on Blu-ray next Tuesday. However, if you are more digitally-inclined, you can download the film in HD now on various platforms. Wondering if you should pony up the…

Read More

Oscar Nominations Announced, Snubs Spark Online Outrage

January 25, 2011

The biggest award show in Hollywood is drawing closer, and we’ve taken the first big step this morning with the announcement of the nominees for the Academy Awards. Like usual, there are some surprising snubs, but none more so than Christopher Nolan not getting nominated for Best Director for Inception,…

Read More

Comments (4)

  1. Africanlegend says:
    July 20, 2011 at 12:45 pm

    Just the same re-hashed plot. Doesn’t add anything fresh…

  2. Kristopher Stoltz says:
    July 20, 2011 at 3:38 pm

    But when it works, it works.

  3. Africanlegend says:
    July 22, 2011 at 3:46 am

    It’s destined to get complicated a fail after 1-2 months…someone catches feelings.

  4. gman thebrave says:
    November 22, 2011 at 12:27 pm

    It’s so sad when Jamie gets her feelings hurt when she hears
    Dylan talking about how he doesn’t like her. 
    It’s inevitable that people will start to like each other.  Dylan says she’s the one that‘s emotionally
    damaged when he’s the one who’s damaged. 
    Although I saw this movie in the theater I can’t wait for it to come out
    on video.  As soon as it’s available I
    will get it because it’s already in my queue with my Blockbuster Movie
    Pass that I got free with
    my new employee account.  It’s cool
    because I get 20 movie channels included too.
     

Comments are closed.

Join the MovieViral.com
ARG & Unfiction Forums



© 2009-2025 The Sometimes Weekly Publishing Company. All Rights Reserved.