Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Review: Friends with Benefits

The perks are few and far between and no rewards to be gained by befriending Friends with Benefits. The only nugget of eternal wisdom to extract from the film is, as the lead in a romantic comedy, Justin Timberlake makes a fine boy-band singer.

"What? Me acting?

There’s no script, only a few intermittent chuckles, and enough quick cuts to hopefully plaster over the fact that when it comes to compelling visual storytelling, this isn’t a patch on The Jersey Shore.

Ocular-enhanced firecracker Mila Kunis plays a high-priced headhunter eager to cash in on her commission earned for placing New York-based designer Timberlake, in a high-profile job with GQ in L.A. Both recently fell victim to dumping-by-celebrity-cameo; Andy Samberg alienated Kunis’s affection, while Easy A star, Emma Stone, called it quits with JT.

A pair of perfect physical specimens, unable to maintain a committed relationship, decides to use each other for sex and wind up falling in love. I didn’t like it when they called it No Strings Attached.

What hurts most is that this was directed and co-written by (currently fallen) rising-star Will Gluck. With Fired Up!, a role-reversal comedy that at any moment could have fizzled, and Easy A, easily the funniest and most intelligent teen-angst comedy since Igby went down, Gluck seemed ready, willing, and capable of provoking laughter by subverting genre expectations.

We mock the things we are to be. Interspersed throughout the film are scenes from a sappy, cliché-ridden, faux HBO romantic comedy series that stars Jason Segal and Rashida Jones. Kunis and Samberg split just before attending a revival screening of Pretty Woman. If you are going to goof on formulaic romcoms and Disney’s rancid fairy tale about cutie-pie hookers in the era of AIDS, you had better damn well see to it that you present something fairly substantive and, dare I say, original to bolster your argument.

Watching Kunis and Timberlake writhe under strategically placed sheets or in canted closeup for a good ten minutes of the film’s running time is not the way to do it. Gluck was heretofore one of the few capable of making a PG-13 comedy feel deserving of a more adult, less box-office friendly, rating. When finally given the opportunity to let loose, Gluck barely earns his R.

With Bob Goulet and Leslie Nielsen permanently out of commission, and Wayne Newton and Larry King too old to bother, how must it feel for ginger-bird snowboarding legend Shaun White (as “Himself”) to be targeted for self-parody? Admittedly, the “does the collar match the cuffs” crack was amusing, but is the best you have to offer?

Taking cheap shots at a meaningless snow bunny is one thing; cracking wise about Scientology, another. Didn't they know that Timberlake's sister is being played by L. Ron Hubbard acolyte, Jenna Elfman?

By assigning every member of the supporting cast one specific trait with which to reap laughter, the film seldom rises above the level of Bridesmaids. Kunis’ mother (Patricia Clarkson, desperately trying to refashion her character from Easy A) is a horny hippie who refuses to reveal where her husband was born. As funny as he is, Woody Harrelson’s “strictly dickly” sports editor would have felt right at home working with Mary, Murray, and Mr. Grant at WJM in Minneapolis.

Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson, and Justin Timberlake

Using Richard Jenkins as a cuddly, one-dimensional magnet for unwarranted pathos is downright hateful. Apparently, Gluck’s way of showing a softer side is by casting a brilliant character actor, known for accepting hit-and-run roles, as an Alzheimer’s patient who doesn’t like to wear pants.

Rating: One Star

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About doTERRA

The perks are few and far between and no rewards to be gained by befriending Friends with Benefits. The only nugget of eternal wisdom to extract from the film is, as the lead in a romantic comedy, Justin Timberlake makes a fine boy-band singer.

"What? Me acting?

There’s no script, only a few intermittent chuckles, and enough quick cuts to hopefully plaster over the fact that when it comes to compelling visual storytelling, this isn’t a patch on The Jersey Shore.

Ocular-enhanced firecracker Mila Kunis plays a high-priced headhunter eager to cash in on her commission earned for placing New York-based designer Timberlake, in a high-profile job with GQ in L.A. Both recently fell victim to dumping-by-celebrity-cameo; Andy Samberg alienated Kunis’s affection, while Easy A star, Emma Stone, called it quits with JT.

A pair of perfect physical specimens, unable to maintain a committed relationship, decides to use each other for sex and wind up falling in love. I didn’t like it when they called it No Strings Attached.

What hurts most is that this was directed and co-written by (currently fallen) rising-star Will Gluck. With Fired Up!, a role-reversal comedy that at any moment could have fizzled, and Easy A, easily the funniest and most intelligent teen-angst comedy since Igby went down, Gluck seemed ready, willing, and capable of provoking laughter by subverting genre expectations.

We mock the things we are to be. Interspersed throughout the film are scenes from a sappy, cliché-ridden, faux HBO romantic comedy series that stars Jason Segal and Rashida Jones. Kunis and Samberg split just before attending a revival screening of Pretty Woman. If you are going to goof on formulaic romcoms and Disney’s rancid fairy tale about cutie-pie hookers in the era of AIDS, you had better damn well see to it that you present something fairly substantive and, dare I say, original to bolster your argument.

Watching Kunis and Timberlake writhe under strategically placed sheets or in canted closeup for a good ten minutes of the film’s running time is not the way to do it. Gluck was heretofore one of the few capable of making a PG-13 comedy feel deserving of a more adult, less box-office friendly, rating. When finally given the opportunity to let loose, Gluck barely earns his R.

With Bob Goulet and Leslie Nielsen permanently out of commission, and Wayne Newton and Larry King too old to bother, how must it feel for ginger-bird snowboarding legend Shaun White (as “Himself”) to be targeted for self-parody? Admittedly, the “does the collar match the cuffs” crack was amusing, but is the best you have to offer?

Taking cheap shots at a meaningless snow bunny is one thing; cracking wise about Scientology, another. Didn't they know that Timberlake's sister is being played by L. Ron Hubbard acolyte, Jenna Elfman?

By assigning every member of the supporting cast one specific trait with which to reap laughter, the film seldom rises above the level of Bridesmaids. Kunis’ mother (Patricia Clarkson, desperately trying to refashion her character from Easy A) is a horny hippie who refuses to reveal where her husband was born. As funny as he is, Woody Harrelson’s “strictly dickly” sports editor would have felt right at home working with Mary, Murray, and Mr. Grant at WJM in Minneapolis.

Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson, and Justin Timberlake

Using Richard Jenkins as a cuddly, one-dimensional magnet for unwarranted pathos is downright hateful. Apparently, Gluck’s way of showing a softer side is by casting a brilliant character actor, known for accepting hit-and-run roles, as an Alzheimer’s patient who doesn’t like to wear pants.

Rating: One Star

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

My first Woody

A trio of early, funny Woody Allen movies
Next Article

Sunday Dinner And a Movie From Big!Lots

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader