Music, Style & Culture

Friends With Benefits

Sexy, funny and charming, it's a sparkling comedy with a filthy edge.

Released in cinemas 9th September 2011.

Arriving months after the similarly themed No Strings Attached comes a far superior raunchy rom com. The former was a painful, unfunny, unconvincing look at the friends with benefits scenario, with Natalie Portman awkwardly imagining a world where she and Ashton Kutcher could plausibly fancy each other.

Banish that throwaway nonsense from your memory, as Friends With Benefits is the real deal. Sexy, funny and charming, it's a sparkling comedy reminiscent of When Harry Met Sally, but with a filthier edge and more self-awareness.

Easy A director Will Gluck is off to a good start with his cast. Recruitment consultant Jamie (Mila Kunis) persuades Los Angeles art director Dylan (Justin Timberlake) to uproot and take on a role at GQ's Manhattan headquarters. Both recently dumped (pleasing cameos from Emma Stone and Adam Samberg), they discuss their supposed faults and become firm friends. More fun cameos come in the televisual form of Jason Segel and Rashida Jones in the sappy, unrealistic rom com the pair watch, before both deciding they'd like sex without the emotional drama. There begins the pact, discussed in frank, blush-inducing detail, where they'd become the titular casual lovers.

What sets Friends With Benefits apart from most insipid comedies are the hilariously real love scenes, which are both modest and genuinely sexy. All the awkwardness is present, before Jamie and Dylan become a match made in heaven. The chemistry between Kunis and Timberlake is electric, the will for them to fall in love is strong, and they're a pair you would honestly love to see in real life.

Of course, feelings get stronger, wires are crossed, and the drama starts, which is when the film starts to wobble. Until then, it's an hour of two gorgeous types being adorable, daft and romantic. The support is strong, with touching subplots involving Dylan's Alzheimer's suffering father (Richard Jenkins) and Jamie's unconventional, free-lovin' mother (Patrica Clarkson). Stealing the show from everyone, however, is Woody Harrelson's gay sports editor, with his completely useless and crude advice. All of them get killer lines in the consistently on-form dialogue.

Friends With Benefits may be cleverly meta, but it's way too zeitgeisty for its own good. With certain websites forming the base for jokes, iPhone apps featuring throughout, and plot-important uses of flashmobs (already dated) it's not going to age well. There's also the unexplainably regular appearance of Shaun White playing himself, which is headscratching for anyone who doesn't have a clue who the snowboarder is (i.e. me).

Minor niggles, when you've got the husky-voiced and doe-eyed Kunis combining girl next door charm with genuine sex appeal, and Timberlake cocky, witty, but still thoroughly likeable. Kunis is the freshest face in comedy since the Bridesmaids came into our lives, vanity-free with superb delivery. Despite Jamie and Dylan's cynicism, the film follows a predictable path. However, the journey is so involving, you'd be heartless not to wish them the best.

Rating: 8/10