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Unseen Movie Review: Friends with Benefits

By Rob Dixter Jul 22, 2011, 13:38 GMT

While trying to avoid the clichés of Hollywood romantic comedies, Dylan (Timberlake) and Jamie (Kunis) soon discover however that adding the act of sex to their friendship does lead to complications. ...more

How do you make a clichéd romantic comedy into a big summer movie? You cast two of the best looking people around to play the leads. Would Friends with Benefits have worked if it starred Steve Buscemi and Betty White? Possibly, but the sex scenes would be the perfect time for a bathroom break.

Two friends who decide to have sex without any commitment is as old an idea as January when No Strings Attached came out. But watching Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis wander through the various predictable stages of this game is fun because of who they are.

Aside from Tearin’ Up My Heart with his SexyBack (sorry, I’ll stop that now) Justin has become quite the actor. He proved he could do funny on Saturday Night Live, but watch him in Alpha Dog and you’ll see that playing Sean Parker in The Social Network was no fluke.

Justin has a certain confidence and allure that translates well on screen. I think it would be a stretch for him to play Daniel Day Lewis’s role in There Will Be Blood, but any sort of affable comedic part he can pull off easily.

Friends with Benefits is directed by Will Gluck who recently did Easy A. Will comes from a TV background and if you watch Easy A you can certainly see that. There’s no real emotional attachment to his characters, they simply utter clever lines. And it seems like Friends with Benefits is more of the same.

Should Justin have not taken this role? Playing Dylan in Friends with Benefits is a smart move. It shows he can finally headline a movie even if it is a by the numbers glib comedy. Justin should be seeking out work with Ricky Gervais or Todd Phillips, guys who will challenge his comedic chops and offer him something substantial.

His next film (coming in October) is In Time from Andrew Niccol with a clever sci-fi concept at its core where people stop aging at 25. That seems like a stretch for JT and hopefully he can pull it off. Don’t worry for this little N’Syncer, even if he bombs out in movies he can always go back to his supposed day job of singing and dancing, that is if he ever decides to get back in the studio.

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