Sex Friends

This movie has a typical romantic comedy plot but honestly, the only variables in all romantic comedies are characters and script dialogue.

Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher do a great job of exhibiting chemistry and getting the audience to hope the two of them into a happily ever after denouement.

They're both beautiful and appealing to a lot of people. Their performances are a great combination of crack up laughter and heart felt longing.

The dialogue is witty and somewhat vulgar in certain instances that makes for a fun time whether you're out with your friends or on a date.

No Strings Attached (2011)

You expect more than you're going to get here. There are two strong leads, Natalie Portman at her finest relaxed self (seeming) and Ashton Kutcher in a slightly amusing, self-deprecating mode that is a little dulling but fits his part. But there isn't the necessary conflict here to make their attraction take on fire. They drift together, they push apart, they find each other again, and so on, all mildly engaging and a bit sleepy.

And don't expect much from Kevin Kline, either, mostly because his part is small and a bit canned, a caricature dad with too much to prove. The rest of the cast is frankly just functional, and you start to look harder at why the movie fizzles with so much apparent talent, especially Portman. And the only real answer is the director, who is more a producer at heart, Ivan Reitman. You can't fault the success of some of his movies, but it's an uneven bunch, from "Ghostbusters" to "Kindergarden Cop." Something lacks energy and imagination here, and the writing stretched a bit.

Enjoyable? Somewhat. Be warned, it's not funny, romantic, or energized enough to quite make it on any score.

This film is about two sex friends who, slowly but surely, develop feelings for each other.

Considering the cast and the big budget, "No Strings Attached" is very disappointing. The two leads are very attractive, but they have little chemistry with each other. Maybe it's to do with the nature of their initial relationship, they do not have any sparks with each other, and hence their subsequent feelings seem so forced and unrealistic. There is little comedy either, the whole plot is plainly delivered. With nothing much to laugh about, no romance to savour, "No Strings Attached" becomes a lacklustre bore.

I had very low expectations for No Strings Attached. The couple would make the decision to use each, one would fall for the other, and in the end they would live happily ever after. I was correct about the overall story line, but, impressively, the writers found a way the mix in enough comedy to keep you entertained for the full 110 minutes. On top of that, there is enough cutsie romance to make for the perfect date night movie. Comedy to make you laugh and romance to cheer up any romantic girl.... sounds like a romantic comedy to me!

Natalie Portman shows her range of acting abilities by having two extremely different films in theaters at the same time. I was thoroughly impressed with her ability to drop the comedic one liners and portray a unaffectionate woman who's fallen in love realistically. Comparing this to her award-winning role in Black Swan made her abilities even more impressive. I cannot say the same for Ashton Kutcher. He has a great face and is great at comedic acting. However, each serious, romantic scene he was in became unrealistic and uncomfortable.

Overall, this is the perfect date night or girls night movie. It has some great comedic moments and brings in the romance that most ladies love to see. If you are looking for a light-hearted romantic comedy, this is a great choice.

See more reviews at http://burningreview.blogspot.com/

What is most fascinating about this movie is that it's a raunchy rom-com from the female perspective. Knowing that the film was written by a woman prior to my viewing it made the nuances jump out to me. It's those nuances and that perspective that make the film enjoyable. No one scene or moment merits more then a minor chuckle but the characters themselves expand and grow as the story unfolds. It's hard to care about the leads at first because there's no set up or real establishment of character. Then, they kind of grow on you even though neither really rang true for me in any real world sense. Natalie Portman is great as many would expect but Ashton Kutcher did a fine job as well. I've seen others criticizing his performance but I think that's based on a pre-determined hatred of him rather than on his work. The supporting characters were VERY weak and useless save for the father character played by the wonderful Kevin Kline. Overall, better than I was expecting it to be.