Friends With Benefits Review

Friends With Benefits Review

Admittedly when I first saw that this movie was being released I thought "didn't I already see this movie?" Well if you saw No Strings Attached earlier this year you would be right. Yet despite being very right you would also be very wrong to dismiss it.

Hollywood has a horrific tendency to either A) Copy cat themselves to the point that even the most original story becomes cliche; or B) Double book two identical movies to be released in the same year, for example Armageddon, and Deep Impact, or The Illusionist and the Prestige, or Dante's Peak and Volcano. I could go on but I won't. No Stings Attached and Friends with benefits would fall into the latter category. Despite being almost identical as far as plot goes Friends With Benefits should not be dismissed, and could very well end up being better remembered than No Strings Attached.

Friends With Benefits pokes fun at the romantic comedy genre, yet despite being a deft satire of romantic comedies, it still satisfies as one. The best cinematic analogy I can think of for this phenomenon is the first Scream film. Scream is brutally satirical about the horror genre, and yet is just as frightening, and full of scares as a traditional horror film. There are moments in Friends With Benefits that absolutely skewer the perception of romance in cinema. The main characters love to talk about all the cliches, standard devices, and plot points that 99 percent of all romantic comedies utilize to tell their story. And almost immediately after they are done pointing out those ridiculous cliches, devices, and plot points, our characters actually do those things. It adds another incredibly deep layer to the satire and I found that almost as amusing as the quick wit, and clever dialogue.

Surprisingly, Friends With Benefits is director Will Gluck's follow up to the impressively clever Easy A. After seeing this movie I can safely and confidently say that Easy A was not a fluke. This movie is just as clever, just as witty, and just as funny. Justin Timberlake isn't the best actor but you can see here that he is improving. Mila Kunis gives a level and likable performance; something that I have always found difficult with her (something about her I love to hate). However, the real stars of the movie are the supporting players. Gluck has wisely surrounded his main characters with quality character actors who steal nearly every scene they are in. No matter how big their part, these supporting players are three dimensional, fully formed, and more importantly serve a purpose beyond comedy. Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson and Patricia Clarkson are pitch perfect, and hilarious in their respective roles.

As I said earlier this movie is incredibly well written. It is sharp, it is witty and it is completely self aware. Yes the characters constantly fall into cliche moments, and in a normal movie that becomes frustrating. But when it happens in Friends With Benefits, it happens with a wink and a nod, as if to say we know we are being unoriginal and we know you are in on the joke. This isn't a romantic comedy, so much as it is a comedy about Hollywood's depiction of romance and how skews our perception of what is romantic.

I won't bore you with plot details because, if you have seen any romantic comedy, you know exactly what is going to happen. Just remember that boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back, cue credits and happy pop song that has nothing to do with the movie but lets you know that you had a good time.