Jamais entre amis

Greetings again from the darkness. In 1989, Rob Reiner's WHEN HARRY MET SALLY hit theatres, and many described it as an updated/contemporary version of Woody Allen's 1977 classic ANNIE HALL. It's been 26 years since Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan debated whether guys and girls could be "just" friends, and now writer/director Leslye Headland shows us that same debate continues to this day.

Jason Sudekis ("Saturday Night Live", Horrible Bosses) stars as Jake, and Alison Brie ("Mad Men", "Community") stars as Lainey. These two characters meet in college and promptly lose their virginity to each other. (It takes a little imagination to accept these two thirty-somethings as college kids) Twelve years later, they meet again by happenstance at a meeting for sex addicts. It turns out, Jake's biggest phobia is related to commitment, and he's a womanizer who has mastered the break-up (yep, he slept with your sister). Lainey's issue is commitment as well, only it's her misplaced commitment to a married doctor (Adam Scott) instead of her boyfriend (Adam Brody) that causes problems.

Jake and Lainey quickly pick up their legendary (in their own mind) repartee, and it becomes a friendship comprised of rapid-fire one-liners. Yes, I used the F word to describe their relationship. To protect their platonic bond, they go to the extreme of creating a safe word as an admission/warning if one is feeling overly amorous towards the other … it's like a fire hose to extinguish any thoughts not related to being a good buddy.

While Sudekis and Brie are both talented and likable, it's the outdated pop culture references that create such an out-of-place feeling for the viewer. How many thirty-somethings these days reference Bobby Fischer, Anne Sullivan and Madame Butterfly during conversation? And the "Pontiac Aztec" line may be the best line in the movie, but how likely is it to resonate with most audience members? There is certainly no shortage of dialogue committed to laughs, but so much of it seems out of step with the young adults it's clearly targeting.

The obvious comparisons/tributes to WHEN HARRY MET SALLY come in the form of the split screen during a text conversation (in contrast to Harry and Sally's phone chats), and the uncomfortable scene featuring a glass tea bottle is the answer to Sally's infamous diner scene. What's lacking is the intellect and heart so prevalent in the 1989 film. It may be contemporary, but it's missing any subtlety or nuance. Perhaps that's the influence of Producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, both who specialize in laughs over nuance.

Additional support work is provided by Amanda Peet, as Jake's boss and love interest; and Jason Mantzoukas and Andrea Savage, the married couple trying hard to help while delivering the film's best and funniest scenes (the closing credits – wow!). Also contributing are Natasha Lyonne, Margarita Levieva, and Katherine Waterston (as the doctor's wife).

Though they deliver some easy laughs (a good thing), if this movie and Amy Schumer's recent TRAINWRECK are accurate social observations of the times, it's difficult to have much hope for modern day relationships (not really a funny thing).

I'm a little surprised at all the negative reviews here. It's hard to imagine what the reviewers found missing. Romance? Comedy? Or both? Because I found plenty of each. I will say that I can see how you need to be able to relate to the lifestyles depicted to appreciate the film. Because if you can't, this might as well be about life on Mars.

This is a smart movie. And the concept is pretty original, considering the difficulty of deviating from the restrictions of the genre. The leads are immensely likable and each able to toss off complex comedic riffs with ease. And I very much enjoyed seeing Adam Scott play the heavy. Not easy to portray a dull-as-donuts bad guy, but he pulled it off.

Despite the "truthiness" of the dialog, the movie does share one thing with all romantic comedies: it's a wet dream for the love hungry. Especially for those folks who juggle and struggle with the reality of modern relationships. The lead characters wear a veneer of cynical sophistication that many of us use as protective shields. But, as is expected from a rom-com, the veneer cracks. And we're glad when it does.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, but be warned: it is a movie for grown ups.

After paying to watch it I at first regretted not watching the preview as the beginning suggested it just might be too sophomoric and unfunny. But the film actually turned out to be fairly witty and definitely engaging. Yes, it was predictable but the dialogue and scenes were lively enough to make it not matter. To me there was only one major flaw in the movie and that centered on Adam Scott's character of Matthew. First off, he was so unappealing and unattractive, at least to me, that I couldn't understand the attachment of Lainie to him. Why him, and why for so long? Also, to somehow equate Lainie's attachment to Matthew with Jake's philandering really didn't make much sense. But overlooking these discrepancies I was still able to enjoy watching this romantic comedy, just as being able to predict the ending didn't stop me from smiling at it.

Let me start by saying, the title is misleading.

You might think that this is about a married couple (or couples) who have a "free" relationship and it is allowed to sleep with other people, have one night stands and so on.

Far from it and far from original, this is the story of 2 students (a "boy" and a "girl") who had a fling back in the days and meet again after 15 years but they are reluctant to begin a relationship between them. They try to stay friends and keep their relationship platonic while they keep denying the physical attraction they have to one another.

So, it is basically a "When Harry met Sally" rip off which tries to implement a more raw "sexual" and comedic style.

Despite the fact that this is rated "R" there is no nudity or vulgarity which makes it a bad decision to rated like that. If nothing else they lose tickets without a cause.

The 2 leads are somehow likable but I wouldn't say that they have a strong chemistry together. The rest of the cast is mostly unsympathetic especially Adam Scott who plays the man-trophy in this.

It is not funny per se. Near the end the things might even be considered dramatic with a scene that seems pointless and out of the blue, just before the obvious (from the start), forced conclusion.

There are some technical problems too. The direction and especially the editing are amateurish especially at the beginning of the movie.

Overall: I understand that there is some hype about this movie and some people are excited to see it (maybe they misunderstood the premise too). But this is overall a sub-par movie, trying to wear the shoes of a rom-com classic.

Let's start by saying, you can't take the title as an accurate representation of this movie. It suits it very well though, just not in a literal sense. Some people didn't like it because they expected an original comedy about open relationships and got a romantic comedy about two emotionally messed up individuals. And if you aren't expecting it to be something else, this movie absolutely nails it.

I know not everyone wants to see a movie about those kind of characters, but I'm really sick of rom-coms about people who have a healthy relationship with sex unless they're a bad guy or someone whose not mean to find love. I thought it was really refreshing to see characters with these issues and the movie was well done. Sure it's a romantic comedy with all the right clichés and cheeky music, and sure the characters aren't relatable to everyone, but for me, it was just perfect.