Friends with Benefits

The result isn't just the best new romantic comedy released so far this year, but one of the best comedies, period. more

Chemistry is king. It's one reason the rom-com has long seemed like the toughest code for Hollywood to crack. But never underestimate the power of snappy, rapid-fire banter, the paving stones of the Hollywood road to romance. more

It works because Timberlake and Kunis are totally in control of their damaged characters without winking at the audience, as if to say: "Aren't we cute, behaving so naughty?" Their sex is amusingly awkward, and their repressed longings more so. It's the kind of chemistry that comes along once in a generation. more

Friends with Benefits is fast, allusive, urban, glamorous - clearly the Zeitgeist winner of the summer. more

It's after the sex friends go back to being just friends that the film really hits its stride, and that's also when the excellent Patricia Clarkson and Richard Jenkins enter the picture as loving but imperfect parents who help explain what's made both leads so gun-shy. more

Goes a long way in bringing sexy back to a soggy genre, benefiting greatly from the presence of its likable leads. more

It's a tired formula moviegoers know well, but in the case of Friends With Benefits, it works. more

Chemistry is the usually misfiring engine that drives romantic comedies, so it's a pleasure to report that Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are practically combustible together in Friends With Benefits. more

The takeaway on Friends With Benefits is that mores change, styles change, the rules change, and even humor changes. (There are two jokes involving apps, of all things, that are pretty funny.) But people's emotional needs remain the same from era to era. more

That it works like a charm - that it mostly keeps its manic energy in check, and that it plays to chick-flick formulas without ever groveling - is due almost entirely to the leads. more

Really good rom com. I think I preferred it to the similar "No Strings Attached", although in all fairness, I enjoyed that one too. Mila is just a better lead than Natalie - it is down to her that this movie succeeds as much as it does. Justin Timberlake, so not a favourite, but he is okay here, amazingly enough. Still would have preferred a different romantic lead, but I could just about watch him without vomiting, as expected! This has some really funny and nice bits in it and a few little cameos. Also nice to see Jenna Elfman in something, and Emma Stone's small role was hilarious as... more

Charmed me out of my gourd. I'm sure we all know what to expect from a rom-com: the girl is emotionally damaged, the guy is emotionally unavailable, they fight, and the guy has to be the one to win the girl over with some huge, romantic stunt. In terms of genre, Friends With Benefits doesn't break any boundaries, yet somehow, Jamie and Dylan's story still seems fresh. They just seem like awesome people - successful, humorous, bold, hot. They actually talk about what they like about each other and what they don't in candid, non-melodramatic ways. Both their daddy issues aren't overplayed,... more

Friends with Benefits manages to succeed where No Strings Attached couldn't, although it could have needed a direction that understood a bit more its charismatic characters to go along with the sympathetic script. The movie doesn't reinvent anything (how could it when the plotline has been so overused over the years?) but can thank its two leads who make us wish they were together in real life. more

Director Will Gluck is on a streak now, with three solid comedies in a row - this, Easy A, and Fired Up (seriously, it's funny!). A smart, sexy romantic comedy that certainly isn't anything groundbreaking, but it packs plenty of fun. As the leads, Justin and Mila are perfect together, and the supporting cast piles on the laughs too, particularly Patricia Clarkson and Woody Harrelson. Friends With Benefits is yet another strong comedy in a year packed with them. Justin Timberlake is about to break through. I've been saying for years he may just be the next Will Smith - perhaps not quite to... more

Will Gluck has shaped up to be quite a talent. While I didn't quite like this as much as Easy A, I thoroughly enjoyed the snap-crackle-pop dialogue between JT and Mila.Patty Clarkson is simply adorbs. more

Friends With Benefits is a movie only because of its actors. This is the end result of two magnificent, charismatic young actors (Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis) being directed by someone who can't develop characters (Will Gluck) and the two actors are too inexperienced to take over a film. Will Gluck directed a hilarious movie called Fired Up! not so long ago and a decent movie in Easy A. They were slightly entertaining and funny, but none of his movies so far could develop a character. This is a definite stall in his development as a director. The cast was great. Justin Timberlake and... more