Friends with Benefits review

Normally I can't really get into Romantic Comedies. There's just something about the two genres mixing that's a huge turnoff to me. Sure, I love comedies, and yeah, I can enjoy a good romantic drama, but the mixing of the two usually ends with predictable plot "twists," a near-complete lack of character development, and humour that's not really funny.

However, "Friends with Benefits" was fantastic. Starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, "Friends with Benefits" is a movie about a corporate head-hunter, Jamie (Kunis) and the man she's recruiting to work for GQ Magazine, Dylan (Timberlake). The movie begins with Jamie and Dylan both being dumped by their respective partners, Dylan in Los Angeles, and Jamie in NYC. Both vow to avoid the emotional complications of relationships, Jamie because she is apparently "emotionally damaged," and Dylan because his ex called him "emotionally unavailable." So, when Jamie and Dylan meet, they're not looking for a relationship, and instead end up in a non-relationship where they only have sex.

As the friends with benefits situation goes on, Jamie and Dylan realize that it's actually working out for them, and that they've become close friends despite their promise to keep emotion out of the equation. As the movie goes on, both need to figure out if what they truly want is a sex filled, emotionless relationship, a partnership, or no relationship at all.

This movie was so fracking funny. Beginning to end, everyone in the theater was laughing. The characters in the movie openly mocked the terrible, predictable plot "twists" of Romantic Comedies, with Timberlake's character making a hilarious point of mocking the cheesy music that goes with Romantic Comedies. When things are going well between him and Jamie, he "bah-bum-bah"'s in an upbeat tempo, and vise-versa when things are getting tricky.

With the "R" rating, this film freely uses the word "fuck," though pretty much always for humour. The cast was great and the flow of the film was amazing. I truly enjoyed it, beginning to end, and didn't once wonder how much longer the movie was going to take.

I'm definitely buying this movie when it comes out on DVD/BluRay, and I recommend checking it out yourself once it hits the theaters. I saw this movie via a free public screening, but I'll probably go to see it in theaters again once it comes out. :)

/ [Nioniel]

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