NO STRINGS ATTACHED (2011)

No Strings Attached does not begin promisingly. Though the main characters are all thirty-somethings, they speak and behave as though they just got out of high school. I'm sorry but do reasonably educated, nearly middle-aged people really spend their time talking about the opposite sex in the crudest terms possible? Am I naive to think that most people are just a little more civilized than that? And worse yet, do fathers discuss oral sex with their adult sons using those same vulgar expressions? I sat through the first part of this movie feeling like I was watching some adolescent sex comedy, rather than what I thought was going to be a romantic comedy, expecting much more from Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Kline. Coming from director Ivan Reitman, however, who gave us such classics as Eurotrip and Meatballs, perhaps the juvenile quality of the film should be no surprise.

Portman and Kutcher's characters, Emma and Adam, are long-time friends who decide to take it up a notch: friends with benefits. The story is predictable ... at first. Portman and Kutcher's characters, Emma and Adam, are long-time friends who decide to take it up a notch: friends with benefits. The contingent is that neither gets too serious; but, of course, they proceed to fall for each other. It is not until they realise they must make heartbreaking decisions about their relationship that the movie gets interesting, the actors start actually using their talents, and we begin to sympathise. Whereas I don't believe Portman as a foul-mouthed twit, I do believe her as a sensitive young woman trying to protect her vulnerable side. And while it's not a stretch for Kutcher to portray a silly post-adolescent, I prefer him as a thoughtful grown-up. (And frankly, he hasn't been keeping up his gym work-outs enough to carry this movie on his scenes of partial nudity alone.) There were some very good supporting actors in No Strings Attached that I wished I could have seen more of. Ludacris as Adam's buddy, Wallace, has become quite a comic actor. Lake Bell is delightfully awkward as Lucy, Adam's besotted co-worker. And Ophelia Lovibond as Vanessa, Adam's ex-girlfriend, and his dad's current flame, is hysterically dimwitted. But as Adam's smarmy Hollywood dad, Alvin, Kline never manages to win sympathy, a fact that surprised me since I normally consider him a superbly talented actor. Fortunately, the second half of the movie improves. There's definitely a pay-off here, it's just too bad that the Reitman takes so long to get to it.

Movie reviewed by Georgina Young-Ellis

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