Friends with Benefits

If you find yourself walking to the theater and not wanting to see a superhero movie, you may turn to the romantic comedy Friends With Benefits and think to yourself I've already seen this movie. While the premise is exactly the same as No Strings Attached, FWB seems to benefit from having taken the extra time to develop their writing and the chemistry between the two leads. It is still the same movie but this version of friends who just want the physical without all the emotional baggage is better.

A lot of the success of the movie is based on the chemistry between the two leads. They are both super sexy people with a lot of charisma and are each easy to like and neither are strangers to comedies. Mila Kunis got her start on the sitcom “That 70’s Show,” while her co-star Justin Timberlake was recently nominated for his work on “Saturday Night Live.” While both have been dabbling in a couple of Academy Award nominated movies, it is nice to see them get back to what they have done so well in the past.

A big part of the success also comes from the writing team of Keith Merryman, David Newman, and director Will Gluck who creates a sharply written movie filled with witty back and forth banter. The guys were on a role and put in a lot of material for their actors to work with. The jokes came at the audience so fast it was easy to miss a couple comebacks while you were laughing at the third joke in. The first half of the movie is full of one-liners and gentle ribbing.

There is also plenty of ribbing of the very genre they are trying to succeed in. The movie goes to task on the rom-com and all the pitfalls of the genre. But almost in the same breath while shouting out all the wrongs of their genre Gluck than goes ahead and commits all his previously mentioned sins as if he didn’t know how else to execute the movie. Just because you acknowledge all of the clichés doesn’t give you full reign to commit them yourself, in fact it probably makes it worse. At the very least he seems to acknowledge the wrongs himself, the biggest ones all being committed towards the end of the movie.

One such sin often poked fun at is the music selection of romantic comedies to help the audience know exactly how they should feel at the moment. And while the song selection performs just as our characters explained they are supposed to I loved almost every song they picked and was left to humming most of the tunes as I left the theater. Except “Hey Soul Sister” that song is a worse affront to human ears than an ice pick.

The first half of the movie is fun and witty and sexy, but due to the fact that this is a romantic comedy everyone in the audience knows that this can’t last. Faster than you can say Kriss Kross the movie makes the abrasive jump to sappy romance. All of a sudden we go from great dialogue to sappy stories of family tragedy, which helps to explain blah, blah, blah.

It actually isn’t all bad; Richard Jenkins is really impressive as JT’s dad. If you allow yourself to truly get involved with the story his is heartbreaking and Jenkins does well in the role. Rounding out his family is his sister Jenna Elfman and her son Nolan Gould (the kid from ‘Modern Family’). The kid is good, but I would have loved to see a little more of Elfman doing anything besides just moving the story along. Mila’s mommy is played by Patricia Clarkson who Will Gluck once again casts for the role of mother. She is solid in the role and has some great moments but as a supporting character isn’t nearly as funny as Woody Harrelson as Justin’s gay sports editor. He is fantastic in everything he touches and has an ability to turn every scene on its head with perfect comic timing. The stand outs here are Jenkins and Harrelson but they all do a great job.

It’s tough to believe anyone as beautiful as Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis would have such dating problems, but if you put that thought on the side the movie is actually pretty fun. There is plenty of witty banter and self deprecating jokes to make you forget some of the hokier moments in the climax of the movie. And if that is not enough the two stars are naked for a decent section of the movie, so you should have something nice to stare at for a bit. B-

Eat, Pray, Love

On paper maybe this movie seems like a better idea. After all it did spend over 155 weeks on the New York Times best seller list. It is fantasy gone right and maybe that is the appeal of the story, we get to live out our desires through another. Bag that, I'd rather go on the trip myself.

Eat, Pray, Love is about Liz Glibert, who for no explicable reason other than not wanting to make cookies, decides to end her marriage. In order to find her balance she goes on a trip across the globe. What is never explained is that the advance she receives pays for her global frolic. Unless we all have people willing to pay for our self indulgent story we may have to be satisfied watching from the stadium seating.

This book has the feel of a Hollywood chick flick, especially the ending. So who better to play the lead role than the star of so many of them? Julia Roberts takes a woman who selfishly leaves her husband and indulges her every whim and makes the character loveable. Roberts still has enormous sex appeal and throughout the movie I couldn't think of a time she looked better. Even with the loud duck like sounds that exit her mouth every time she laughs I still can't help but feel smitten.

While in New York she falls in love with a charming struggling actor whose performance makes people walk out. Who better to cast than James Franco. Surprise surprise, Liz has the same problems with the young guy as she does in her married life. Mike O'Malley and Viola Davis do their best to support our protagonist during this difficult time and their devotion seems genuine. It’s a shame Franco got more screen time than both of them. Well anyway Roberts is tired of it all and decides to run away from all her problems.

Her stay in Italy is the most well done. It may just be easier for Ryan Murphy (co-creator of mega hit Glee) to understand and accentuate this culture more than the others. He has a wonderful segment about Italians talking with their hands and does what is more or less food porn. Do not go to this movie hungry, the most carefully crafted shots in this movie may very well be the shots of food, from the plate of spaghetti, to pizza from Naples, and cheese oozing out of her meal. If that wasn't enough it also comes with a two part thanksgiving dinner. Which is nothing compared to the Del Greco Easter dinner but certainly up there.

The movie then gets bogged down in India where Julia/Liz tries to find her spiritual center and learn the proper way to meditate. Meditation is the action of clearing your mind so it takes a while for anyone to master. Unfortunately that is a lot of screen time devoted to the art of doing nothing which weighs down the 140 minute movie even more. The saving grace of this segment is Richard Jenkins, who plays Richard from Texas, a man who speaks in bumper stickers. His tough treatment and hard life lessons is probably meant to be more endearing in the book, but I liked the character, most likely because I speak fluent asshole.

Then we reach Bali, where she reconnects with the medicine man whose message puts her on this journey in the first place. The toothless medicine man is just as charming as Javier Bardem who is responsible for the love portion of this book.

SPOILER ALERT: AS IN I TALK ABOUT THE ENDING

I really had problems with this relationship as it seems to happen so quick. In the book the words take time to sink in, we can place the book down, let the connections sink in and last a little longer until the next passage. There is no time to let the romance sink in. Also most of the movie is devoted to finding balance for yourself. One of the listed reasons she goes on this trip is she is tired of being identified as part of a relationship. Then in true Hollywood hokum style we see the only way for our Julia Roberts lead to find happiness is through a man. So much for self identification.

SPOILER OVER

The movie in as enjoyable as hearing about a friend’s vacation. All I really wanted to hear was good. Instead I get a story about the most wonderful food ever experienced in a city of unbridled passion, and then a trip to clear my mind of all the clutter that possessed it before, and finally they find a foreign piece of ass with which they had so much sex they started to develop a bladder infection. And then after it all they ask me how is work? Bitch. C