Jamais entre amis

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.

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While Sudekis and Brie are both talented and likable, it's the outdated pop culture references that create such an out-of-place feeling for the viewer.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).

"Pretend this empty bottle of green tea is your vagina." - Jake, Jason Sudeikis

"Looks just like it." - Lainey, Alison Brie

(nearly interrupting her) "Great, let's move on." - Jake, Jason Sudeikis"

Early on-set chemistry between actors in movies is a seriously beautiful thing, especially when it's a chemistry you can see develop from the very first frame in the film. Sleeping with Other People features two delightful performers that I would've never thought have been so charismatic and fun together. The performers in question are Alison Brie and Jason Sudeikis, both proved assets to nearly every film they are in, Brie for her constant, easy-going charisma and her strengths at situational and conversational humor, and Sudeikis for affable and impressively mature "manchild" roles, if that makes sense.

The two make Sleeping with Other People, the sophomore effort from Leslye Headland, who directed Bachelorette in 2012, a delightful romantic comedy, one that speaks to the current generation by use of wit, deadpan sarcasm, technological incorporation, and quick-witted banter. Rather than trying too hard to try and illustrate a new kind of relationship between people like Friends with Benefits, or frustrate with its narrative conventions and compliance with incredulous circumstances like Safe Haven, Sleeping with Other People is so simple and genuine that you may overlook how large its impact is.

The film opens in 2002, where a young collegian named Lainey (Alison Brie) creates a scene outside of Jake's (Jason Sudeikis) dorm. When she is about to be kicked out by security, Jake vouches that she is indeed his guest, and the two spend most of the night in his dorm as she states that her plan was to lose her virginity to her teaching assistant Matt (Adam Scott). Jake, who is also a virgin, slams Matt as one of the most boring people on the faces of the Earth, and both him and Lainey end up hitting it off so well that they wind up having sex.

In the present day, we see Lainey break up with her long-term boyfriend after telling him she has been cheating on him. Per her therapist's request, Lainey decides to visit a "love addicts" meeting where she runs into Jake, who is there for his inability to commit. The two wind up reconnecting just in time for Lainey to realize that Matt, who she was cheating with, is getting engaged; both Lainey and Jake decide to serve as one another's personal therapist as they carry out a strictly platonic relationship revolving around discussing sex and learning the process and perks of commitment.

As stated, the bulk of this film relies on the charming and nonchalant chemistry of both Sudeikis and Brie, which is something that consistently works in the film's favor. Both are comedians well-versed and trained in the field of modern comedies, so it's no surprise that when the two get together, Headland's script has them zealously spouting off quick-witted lines filled with subtle humor and sarcastic undertones. Furthermore, this is the kind of language that the target audience speaks in, especially when the subject revolves around love and romantic commitment.

We're approaching a day and age where more and more young people are rejecting the idea of committing to another person or even formally dating. Positives and negatives of that aside, films like Sleeping with Other People are what we need to document such a shift in mindset. This is a film that doesn't condescend the already disenfranchised demographic when it comes to assertions of them "getting serious" with one another, or the lack of ability to do so, nor does it feel like this was a film made by outsiders looking in, thinking they know how the newer generations operate without really knowing how they operate. Headland does a wonderful job at conveying a sense of maturity and restraint in her script, even when situations call for Jake showing Lainey how to masturbate using an empty bottle of green tea.

Quoted above is a line that perfectly summarizes the humor in this film, not in terms of content, but in terms of zealous energy and conversational wit. Sudeikis and Brie are so used to commanding the screen in their films, regardless of whether or not they have a starring or supporting role, that it's almost as if they cannot help but exhaust all their comedic abilities in this particular film. The result, coupled with the recurring themes of this generation's approach to love and relationships, is refreshing and uncommonly fun, especially given how laidback this film constantly feels.

Starring: Alison Brie, Jason Sudeikis, and Adam Scott. Directed by: Leslye Headland.

Jason Sudeikis is dynamite in this raunchy yet surprisingly romantic take on rom-com. If you were to see this film with a group of friends, you would constantly be thinking about what the sheltered friend is thinking as they watch the numerous sex scenes unfold on screen. On the opposite end of the spectrum, it had some of the wittiest dialogue I have seen in years from a movie. The final act wraps everything up nicely and is quite wholesome. Great stuff Sudeikis.

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.