Friends With Benefits

Friends With Benefits tells the tale of whether a boy and a girl can have a “relationship” based on sex only with no emotions attached. Hang on a sec….isn’t this No Strings Attached? What we have here is one of those odd Hollywood coincidences that occur every few years where two films covering the same subject are released around the same time as each other. Firstly, let’s confirm that this is the better film of the two. OK, not saying much I know, but this is decent enough for the target audience whilst haters of this kind of thing I assume won’t be going in the first place. In the film Dylan (Justin Timberlake) moves to New York and begins a new job thanks to the help of headhunter Jamie (Mila Kunis). Before long their “agreement” begins and we’re into the very predictable plot. There’s the old football cliché about a game of two halves and Friends With Benefits is definitely a film of two halves. The first part is good fun and breezes along with Timberlake being particularly good and Patricia Clarkson (as Jamie’s Mum) stealing all scenes she pops up in. It’s odd then that things fall apart so quickly in the second half of the film, with the introduction of Dylan’s family being the moment the film flatlines and then quickly sinks to the bottom. The scene where Dylan’s Alzheimer’s suffering Dad tells his son to seize the moment will have you mentally, if not physically, heading for exit door. Kunis is good value, but Timberlake is a bit of a mystery. He’s on form at the start of the film, but as soon as the film requires some more serious emotion he completely loses it and just appears awkward in front of the camera. Despite the standard script, this does have some very funny moments and has a wide range of comedy from the crude to the cerebral, meaning there’s a couple of laughs out there for each member of the audience. Woody Harrelson also pops up in a decent cameo with some nice one-liners and he could possibly have been utilised more. All in all, though it hints at something more, this is just a regular example of the genre in the end.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict

Fun for the targeted demographic, but the two halves don’t make a whole for the rest. Rating: 6/10.