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Friends With Benefits
Tuesday 16th August 2011 | Osh
Friends With Benefits - September 2nd
Ask any self-respecting pop music fan and they will tell you how they deplore Justin Timberlake's absence from the music scene. Their anger would be understandable, of course, with Timberlake easily being one of the most charismatic and influential male popstars of the past decade. On paper, his diversion into acting seems self-indulgent and unnecessary, but what separates Timberlake from other popstars-turned-thespians is that he has been slowly but surely improving his craft. He was not, as a certain other popstar would say, ‘born this way’; 2006's Alpha Dog saw Timberlake give a wooden (if oddly promising) performance but fast-forward to 2011 and it is clear he has improved tenfold. The Social Network proved he had a screen presence to be reckoned with and earned him some new fans. But playing a cocky, rich entrepreneur was never going to be too much of a stretch, was it? Possibly aware of this, Friends With Benefits has Timberlake trying something riskier: comedy. It is a dangerous genre that not even Oscar winners can necessarily pull off (Nicole Kidman does 'funny' like your Gran does 'funky') but Justin can, which is probably for the best seeing as he is surrounded by comedic talent in the form of Mila Kunis, Woody Harrelson and Patricia Clarkson.
Timberlake stars as Dylan, a successful, Los Angeles-based blogger who is head-hunted by Jamie (Kunis) for GQ magazine’s New York office. The two hit it off immediately and share a cute, supportive friendship. They are also just out of sour relationships, and are ‘emotionally unavailable’. However, one night they half-drunkenly decide that they are smart, mature adults who are perfectly capable of having sex without letting it complicate their friendship. But they soon learn that sex and emotions can be hard to keep apart…
Despite being marketed as an ‘anti-romantic comedy’, you are better off not going in expecting a game-changer. Yes, it might be edgier than this years other Hollywood rom-coms, but so is your average episode of Dora the Explorer. No, the films biggest triumph is that it’s simply very funny, the script bouncing along with salty dialogue and Sex and the City-style charm and wit. Kunis and Timberlake make for two extremely likable leads, sharing a unique chemistry that carries the film, while Harrelson is hilarious as Dylan’s gay work colleague, as is Clarkson as Jamie’s flaky hippy of a mother. However, it is Richard Jenkins who steals every scene he is in as Dylan’s father, a frustrated Alzheimer’s sufferer. It is a subplot that avoids clichés and simply adds heart to a hugely satisfying film.
Ask any self-respecting pop music fan and they will tell you how they deplore Justin Timberlake's absence from the music scene. Their anger would be understandable, of course, with Timberlake easily being one of the most charismatic and influential male popstars of the past decade. On paper, his diversion into acting seems self-indulgent and unnecessary, but what separates Timberlake from other popstars-turned-thespians is that he has been slowly but surely improving his craft. He was not, as a certain other popstar would say, ‘born this way’; 2006's Alpha Dog saw Timberlake give a wooden (if oddly promising) performance but fast-forward to 2011 and it is clear he has improved tenfold. The Social Network proved he had a screen presence to be reckoned with and earned him some new fans. But playing a cocky, rich entrepreneur was never going to be too much of a stretch, was it? Possibly aware of this, Friends With Benefits has Timberlake trying something riskier: comedy. It is a dangerous genre that not even Oscar winners can necessarily pull off (Nicole Kidman does 'funny' like your Gran does 'funky') but Justin can, which is probably for the best seeing as he is surrounded by comedic talent in the form of Mila Kunis, Woody Harrelson and Patricia Clarkson.
Timberlake stars as Dylan, a successful, Los Angeles-based blogger who is head-hunted by Jamie (Kunis) for GQ magazine’s New York office. The two hit it off immediately and share a cute, supportive friendship. They are also just out of sour relationships, and are ‘emotionally unavailable’. However, one night they half-drunkenly decide that they are smart, mature adults who are perfectly capable of having sex without letting it complicate their friendship. But they soon learn that sex and emotions can be hard to keep apart…
Despite being marketed as an ‘anti-romantic comedy’, you are better off not going in expecting a game-changer. Yes, it might be edgier than this years other Hollywood rom-coms, but so is your average episode of Dora the Explorer. No, the films biggest triumph is that it’s simply very funny, the script bouncing along with salty dialogue and Sex and the City-style charm and wit. Kunis and Timberlake make for two extremely likable leads, sharing a unique chemistry that carries the film, while Harrelson is hilarious as Dylan’s gay work colleague, as is Clarkson as Jamie’s flaky hippy of a mother. However, it is Richard Jenkins who steals every scene he is in as Dylan’s father, a frustrated Alzheimer’s sufferer. It is a subplot that avoids clichés and simply adds heart to a hugely satisfying film.
