Perhaps it is because I went in with extremely low expectations, convinced this would be a terrible movie, but No Strings Attached was much better than I anticipated.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not an amazing movie. The plot is extremely predictable, as are the minor character arcs – guy’s friend gets with girl’s friend, etc. Natalie Portman is fun to watch, though there are far more shots of Ashton Kutcher’s a– than hers.
Portman’s character (Emma) and Kutcher’s character (Adam) knew each other as teens and then again as adults. They meet up, with Adam clearly seeking a relationship and seeming constantly surprised they are not in one despite Emma telling him over and over again that she doesn’t want to that.
Early on in the movie, they decide to be friends with benefits until one of them develops feelings for the other, at which point they would stop. It is obvious during this conversation that Adam is already smitten, but despite Portman playing a doctor, she is apparently too oblivious to notice.
They have sex a lot, get jealous over the other, deny their feelings, admit their feelings, deny some more. Blah blah, it is nothing original and you can already guess how it will end.
But No Strings Attached is funny, even if the humor stems from shock more than genuine comedy. Both Emma and Adam introduce each other to their parents as, “ … this is the guy/girl I’m banging,” or some derivative.
Portman steals what little shine there is, her presence dominating everyone else’s on screen. Though it is actually the scenes where she is by herself that she is funniest.
One thing I will praise is that No Strings Attached was seemingly spot on by making the girl the one who was emotionally closed off while the guy wanted a committed relationship. Seriously, this seems like a great analogy for most of my relationships.
Adam is described throughout the film as a good-looking, amazing guy that any girl would want to be with. I don’t know why, but every time they said this I swear the camera would zoom in on his nose, which always looked like a greased square right at that moment.
As for being some amazing guy, his character lives in his father’s shadow and works for a TV show highly similar to High School Musical. The only thing that seems impressive about him is what a terrible texter he is, something Ludacris makes fun of him for.Ludacris gets little screen time, but he’s funnier than Kutcher, so it is a relief when he is there.
By far though, the second best actress is Lake Bell. She plays a neurotic co-worker of Adam’s who he never sees as date material – meaning if she were the main character he’d realize he loves her at the end and they’d end up together. He actually does take her on a date, but she is so nuts compared to Emma’s sexy craziness that he leaves her.
Still, Bell has some of the funnier one-liners, including one towards the end that has to number amongst some of the funniest things I have heard.
Guys, if your girl is pestering you to take her to a RomCom, there are worse ones out there. A couple of scenes are disturbing. A mixed tape for her period, seriously? But it’s Natalie Portman. Enough said.
Ladies, you’ll like this because you are girls and it’s Ashton Kutcher. Keep an eye out this July when Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake do the exact same movie.
Richard Solomon can be reached at richard.solomon@spartans.ut.edu.
I feel as though you tried harder to sound funny or sarcastic rather than actually just writing a review… There is nothing in here that proves whether it was a good movie or not. Luckily this was a review for a romcom and not a deeply intelligent film, which actually must be analyzed to write a sufficient review.
Hey Richard,
Are you actually a journalist? This is the biggest cesspool of a movie review I’ve ever read. It reads like a “What I Did Over My Summer Vacation” essay from elementary school. Rather than give us a first and second best actor/actress rating, why don’t you tell something intelligent about the film?
Also, nice over-arching statement at the end that all girls will like this beacause they’re girls. How long did you sit in the Salsa Rico line to ask a couple of girls their opinions on Ashton Kutcher?