Movie Review: Friends With Benefits

Friends With Benefits was basically Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman's No Strings Attached, only better!! Seriously. This was not as dull as that and I thought that it got more things right from it's narrative, to the execution and down to the dynamics of the characters.

Of course, this was just as predictable as any other romantic comedies out there, but that was something I could overlook just because it was actually well written. I liked how straightforward the screenplay was and I enjoyed how it would poke fun at the cliches of romantic comedies in general, and then use it for comedic advantage later on. I personally found the deliberate use of cliches part of the humor to be a nice touch.

The vulgarity, I thought, was one of the things the movie handled quite nicely. It had lots of it, but just enough not to offend. It wasn't in every sentence, yet it wasn't squeaky clean. It just had the right mixture of everything.

But what made Friends With Benefits a touch above it's contemporaries was the cast. Both Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis nailed (no pun intended) their roles incredibly well. I found them quite believable and real and their characters were extremely and genuinely likable. Plus, their back and forth banters were delightful. Not to mention, their spot on chemistry.

The supporting cast was nothing short of fantastic either, especially from the incredibly hilarious Patricia Clarkson and Woody Harrelson. They weren't overused, which was good, and I found myself laughing more often than not with their "wisdom". Of course, the awesome Emma Stone and Andy Samberg also did a cameo and I felt happy. Haha.

Overall, Friends With Benefits was nice charming light hearted film. It's not wildly hysterical as I expected, but quite clever and entertaining.. cliches and all!