Friends with Benefits

Overview: Dylan, and Jamie have just gotten out of crappy relationships, and since it was such a traumatic experience for them, they’ve sworn off intimate relationships forever… well nature says otherwise yaw big dummies; especially since one of you is hot, and the other was the front runner of the gender-curious band NSYNC.  After an in-depth two minute conversation, the two decide to have emotionless sex with each other, and this way they don’t have to put themselves into a situation where they could get hurt.  Seriously, what were they thinking? Have they never seen “When Harry Met Sally” before?  It’s only a matter of time before they start caring for each other and that “aint no lie baby bye bye bye!” (I’m going to have a hard time not making fun of that boy band).

The Good:  I can only imagine what was going on between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis on the set of “Black Swan”.  In order to be secure with their own sexual identities, these two actresses decided to make two chick-flick movies based around the same idea; the idea being emotionless sex-buddies inevitably falling in love.  After falling head over Chuck Taylors (I’m a dude, ergo I don’t wear heels) with “No Strings Attached”, I didn’t really have much hopes for this ironically similar movie, but alas I was wrong once again, just like I was wrong about all Chinese restaurants being healthy; I think the toilet and I need a time out.  This is a very funny movie that, unlike “No Strings…” has far more comedy in it, and gives the audience a chance to laugh at the stupid decisions these people make even more.  I loved how the movie is not what you expect.  When watching the trailer I’m sure everyone thought this was going to be a raunchy-comedy exclusive, but it proved to be more than that (like the pain in my buttocks was actually crohns);  “Friends with Benefits” actually teaches some pretty good lessons on what makes a relationship a good one.

The Bad:  C and I are not that picky when it comes to dialogue in a romance movie, as a matter of fact we love it when the ubber cheesy crap comes out, but there were a small handful of parts in this movie that I thought to myself “David Hasselhoff is actually a good singer”, then I thought “Even the Kraft’s Macaroni Dinosaur couldn’t bring the cheese back into this flick”.  The other beef I had with this movie is purely a personal issue.  I miss the good old days where at the butt of everyone’s jokes, there was still enough room to make fun of NSYNC for an hour, like how they possibly painted each others nails and mostly likely cuddled together.  Well lately Justin Timberlake (the heart throb) has been winning me over with his funny SNL skits, his performance in “Social Network”, and his funny-role in this movie as well as “Bad Teacher”.  How is this bad you ask?  Let’s just say I’m running out of people to make fun of now that Justin’s out of the picture, because Rosie O’Donell is getting old, and Lindsey Lohan is downright pathetic.  I guess I can make fun of the NSYNC guy who never made a name for himself, and ironically I can’t remember his name, all I remember is he had brades and beads in his hair, probably put there by Justin. 

The Ugly:  Well this movie surely isn’t ugly, as a matter of fact it’s got too attractive people as the leading characters.  Set aside what you actually might think about this movie and give it a chance, because you’ll find it to be more than just a comedy; you’ll find it to be the “Schindler’s List” of romantic comedies… ok that may be pushing it, but you get my point.

3 out of 5