More Than Sex -- FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS Movie Review

Potato On the Go:

Romantic comedies come and go but only a few leave a lasting mark.  I did not expect too much from this new chick flick (if you may categorize it that way) from Columbia Pictures when it held a preview of the film at their headquarters in Shangri-la Mall.  All I expected are barrage of laughter and okay, I must admit, a few intimate scenes.  But I guess the film gave more than that!  =D

Friends with Benefits talks about the life, love and lust (haha) of Dylan ( Justin Timberlake) and Jamie (Mila Kunis).  All they wanted is to add the simple act of sex to their friendship without of course damaging or destroying their bond.  But as they enjoy the physical intimacy, they will soon be led to a unique kind of complication plus a life changing self discovery.

Friends with Benefits is indeed sexy not only because of the too many skin and physical encounters shown in the movie but because how the story and its major characters are played up.  The characters are just too hard to resist and I somehow think that each sex would somehow want a piece of the character of Dylan and Jamie, Dylan being the LA guy who made it big in New York and of course getting a sassy headhunter and eventually a bed buddy and Jamie being the smart and hot chick with the oozing confidence.

The story did not just revolve around sex, although that's a major component of course, but it talks about relationships, families, frustrations, disappointments and what we really want in life.  Life and love are just full of complications but that's how we really should live it, there are no shortcuts, there are no self-made rules that can change that.  The only thing that can keep us going through and eventually win the game is the love of the people around us.  I am not so sure, but I feel this is what I got from the movie "Friends with Benefits".  =)  Let me know if you feel the same way too when you watch it.   =)

Another thing I would like to commend is the fantastic comedy in store in the movie.  The lines are so real that you wouldn't know that a punchline is coming up!  And as the word says, the lines were punches to our face that kept us laughing all throughout the movie.

Fantastic lines in this movie are:
 "I'm single but emotionally unavailable"
 "Who would not explore positions?", answered by "Those who are not happy in their positions".

They're just so real, it's like listening to normal people.  This proves than the scriptwriter need not exaggerate to make the people laugh.

The actors were well chosen and each of them brought this simple story to life, as in real exciting life.  Justin Timberlake, I think, finally got accepted and welcomed by the movie community and Mila Kunis of course, is one fine actress to watch out for.  Justin effectively portrayed the role of a confused career man who's doing his best not only for himself but for his family and Mila is best at her street smart persona who will do everything to give a new direction to her life.  Mila is really the next big star to watch out for, perhaps following the ranks of Scarlett Johanssen and Angelina Jolie.  The two including Jenna Elfman (Dylan's sister), Richard Jenkins (Dylan's father), Patricia Clarkson (Jamie's mother) and Woody Harrelson (Tommy, Dylan's gay friend and colleague at work) delivered fine performances, and that includes powerful comic punchlines!  =)

Another thing I liked is how the story showed that life's lessons can be taught by anyone else and can be learned in many different ways.  These lessons in life and love were unexpectedly shared by Dylan's father who is suffering from Alzhymer's disease, Tommy, Dylan's gay friend who is more man than him in terms of making a stand and Jamie's mother, who suffered a lot from relationships. 

Then besides the story, I fell in love with poetic backdrop of New York and LA, I believe they are fantastic places but the way the Production Design team set that up and how the Cinematographer framed those scenes really scored high.  I love the scenes in Times Square, at the building roof top, Hollywood sign, the beach side house, New York streets, office interiors, they are just too many to mention here.

Music also made the visual poetry much sexier as every memorable scene is scored with the right sound, rythm and melody.

One thing I did not like though is the way how the movie is resolved and concluded, at this point since it started really good, I expected another way of ending.  After all the realistic treatments done in the film, it was somehow ended or said in a cheesy way.  Well I guess, that's how even real love stories are, most of the time, it becomes our license to cheesiness, haha =D. 

But above all, I thin Friends with Benefits is a good and cool sexy and romantic comedy film.  As you can see here, Friends with Benefits is more than sex.  It's a movie about our dreams, love and life, and what we're going to do about it. 

From a scale of 1 to 10 claps, I'm giving Friends with Benefits with a sexy 8!  From Columbia Pictures, Friends with Benefits opens in theaters on September 28!