No Strings Attache (C- or 2/4 stars)
'No Strings Attached' (directed by Ivan Reitman, Ghostbusters, Twins, Dave) is your prototypical R-rated romantic comedy. There have been hundreds of 'em over the years. Unfortunately, this one is a bit of a stinker (with nice highlights sprinkled throughout). The basic plot actually resembles the one in last year's Love & Other Drugs - where an oversexed couple tries to have casual sex together without deep emotional involvement. This movie just isn't on the same level. Eh, but I digress. Our protagonists here are Adam (Ashton Kutcher), a TV series production asst. with dreams of writing a script, & Emma (Natalie Portman), a young doctor trying to get through her residency unscathed. Their paths, which have crossed twice before in their life (adolescence, & their early 20's), cross again when Adam's British girlfriend dumps him for his famous actor father (an enjoyable Kevin Kline).
After getting wasted, he starts calling every # in his cell phone & this leads him to Emma (shocker, I know). The next morning (in a scene we've seen a million times in the commercials/trailer for this movie), after he's recovered from a hangover in an apartment she shares with 3 roommates, the 2 of them have sex & come to an understanding: they will be each other's convenient f*ck buddies ... no strings attached. What are the strings, you ask? Well, you know ... day-long spooning, jealousy, gifts, etc.. If mushy love entered the equation, they would end it. But before long, they learn that they may want something more (aww). Could their lifelong friendship survive this debacle? Highly predictable plot machinations ensue; even one including Cary Elwes (yes, 'that' Cary Elwes, haha).
'No Strings Attached' is mildly enjoyable from time to time. There are some smirk-worthy slapstick moments & witty jabs throughout the script. Portman knows how to deliver a line of dialogue (comedic, dramatic, ironic, sarcastic, heartfelt). I busted a gut laughing twice (once being in the opening flashback scene). But with 'No Strings Attached' ... you know what you're going to get every step of the way. Nothing will upset you. There's the usual host of agitating side characters & credulity-straining stretches of dialogue. You know a pre-ordained romance will solidify. And there are no shocks or surprises. In fact, 'NSA' is so similar to other rom-coms, that the only thing TRULY separating it from others is that the actors are different (Kutcher, Portman here). And to that, I don't think Ashton Kutcher (someone I'm never wild about anyway) added to the proceedings; if anything, he subtracted from them.
'NSA' also irked me with its unnecessary profanity. The film is R-rated, so the writer(s) decide that lewd behavior (incessant sex) and words like f*ck, p*ssy, c*nt (etc.) need to be utilized A LOT to be "hip" for the younger crowds of today who are watching. Vulgar one-liners (many said by the annoying Greta Gerwig & Mindy Kaling) turning an intermittently clever film into something cheap & trashy. Furthermore, for all the people who enjoy that behavior/language - fine - but the movie was both too predictable & not funny enough to back-up the trashy components. All in all, I've seen far worse (as far as romantic comedies go). The last 10 minutes are genuinely sweet. Portman & Kutcher share some chemistry. But I never once saw Emma & Adam here (just the actors). And even the endearing Portman & the amiable Kutcher can't keep the film from floating close to Katherine Heigl territory. Yuck.
After getting wasted, he starts calling every # in his cell phone & this leads him to Emma (shocker, I know). The next morning (in a scene we've seen a million times in the commercials/trailer for this movie), after he's recovered from a hangover in an apartment she shares with 3 roommates, the 2 of them have sex & come to an understanding: they will be each other's convenient f*ck buddies ... no strings attached. What are the strings, you ask? Well, you know ... day-long spooning, jealousy, gifts, etc.. If mushy love entered the equation, they would end it. But before long, they learn that they may want something more (aww). Could their lifelong friendship survive this debacle? Highly predictable plot machinations ensue; even one including Cary Elwes (yes, 'that' Cary Elwes, haha).
'No Strings Attached' is mildly enjoyable from time to time. There are some smirk-worthy slapstick moments & witty jabs throughout the script. Portman knows how to deliver a line of dialogue (comedic, dramatic, ironic, sarcastic, heartfelt). I busted a gut laughing twice (once being in the opening flashback scene). But with 'No Strings Attached' ... you know what you're going to get every step of the way. Nothing will upset you. There's the usual host of agitating side characters & credulity-straining stretches of dialogue. You know a pre-ordained romance will solidify. And there are no shocks or surprises. In fact, 'NSA' is so similar to other rom-coms, that the only thing TRULY separating it from others is that the actors are different (Kutcher, Portman here). And to that, I don't think Ashton Kutcher (someone I'm never wild about anyway) added to the proceedings; if anything, he subtracted from them.
'NSA' also irked me with its unnecessary profanity. The film is R-rated, so the writer(s) decide that lewd behavior (incessant sex) and words like f*ck, p*ssy, c*nt (etc.) need to be utilized A LOT to be "hip" for the younger crowds of today who are watching. Vulgar one-liners (many said by the annoying Greta Gerwig & Mindy Kaling) turning an intermittently clever film into something cheap & trashy. Furthermore, for all the people who enjoy that behavior/language - fine - but the movie was both too predictable & not funny enough to back-up the trashy components. All in all, I've seen far worse (as far as romantic comedies go). The last 10 minutes are genuinely sweet. Portman & Kutcher share some chemistry. But I never once saw Emma & Adam here (just the actors). And even the endearing Portman & the amiable Kutcher can't keep the film from floating close to Katherine Heigl territory. Yuck.