No Strings
Attached
No Strings Attached
is the second step in making Natalie Portman the hardest working woman in
show business. After a couple of years laying low out of the limelight in
roles in the smallish likes of New York I Love You, Brothers and
The Other Woman, Portman currently has six
(count ‘em!) features due to land in theaters in the space of less than a
year – and that isn’t even counting her appearance as herself in Joaquin
Phoenix’s “documentary” I’m Still Here.
Strictly from a career standpoint, No Strings Attached is actually a
smart counterpoint to the dark operatic passions of Black Swan.
After all, after that arty and disturbing (but very good) melodrama, what
could be more mainstream than a sweet and formulaic romantic comedy?
It’s
a nice added benefit that No Strings Attached is actually a
better-than-average formulaic romantic comedy. It is not a perfect film or
necessary experience by any means, but in an era where most rom coms are of
the dubious quality of Did You Hear About the Morgans?, The Back-Up Plan,
You Again, What About Steve?, Valentines Day or anything with Matthew
McConaughey, this film seems like a treasure just because it is a pleasant
enough diversion.
And
perhaps the basic premise of No Strings Attached – about a couple who
is in a strictly sexual relationship when love sneaks in to complicate
things – is rather similar to that of last fall’s Love and Other Drugs,
though No Strings Attached does not veer into darker melodrama in
later scenes like that film did. Well, who really ever expected a romantic
comedy to be unique? The story has been done many times before and will be
again – in fact, doesn’t the upcoming Mila Kunis/Justin Timberlake film
Friends with Benefits also seem to be retelling this very same story?
Emma
and Adam had met years ago in summer camp and had a very awkward flirtatious
encounter. Years later, they run into each other at a University of
Michigan frat party and she ends up bringing him as his date the next day to
her father’s funeral.
Then, finally in the present day (at least as far as the film is concerned),
they run into each other at a farmers’ market. They are still fighting
their mutual attraction, but when he finds out that his former sitcom-star
dad (Kevin Kline) has hooked up with his ex-girlfriend, Adam goes drinking
with his buddies and texts while drunk. He wakes up the next morning in her
apartment naked and not sure how he got there – or what happened. Turns out
they hadn’t slept together, but they do before he leaves that morning.
She
makes an offer – she has no time for a relationship, but they should have
strings-free sex anytime either wants it. The only rules were: no dating,
no jealousy, no endless phone calls and most of all, no falling in love.
Being a man, of course he jumps at the chance.
However, if you have ever seen a movie like this, you know that this kind of
relationship will never work out without one of them wanting more.
Refreshingly, he is the one who wants something a bit more personal than
zipless fucking. But will they be able to downshift from sex into dating?
No Strings Attached
is something of a return
to form for its director, the respected comic mind
Ivan Reitman, who has recently been struggling in the likes of My Super
Ex-Girlfriend and Evolution. Of course, it is nowhere as good as
some of Reitman’s classics, such as Ghost Busters, Dave or
Stripes. It also isn’t as good as the three films made in recent years
by his son Jason – Thank You For Not Smoking, Juno and Up in the
Air. However, this is the most engaging film that Ivan has made since
Dave in 1993.
It
also shows, finally, that when given the correct material (which he almost
never is), Ashton Kutcher is a perfectly serviceable leading man. In fact,
he and Portman actually have terrific chemistry together.
No Strings Attached
also has an extremely
deep cast of supporting actors – including the wonderful Greta Gerwig (from
Greenberg) as her best friend, Olivia Thirlby as her little sister,
Jake Johnson and rapper Ludacris as his best friends and terrific TV actress
Lake Bell as a co-worker with a crush on Kutcher’s character. Kline is
slightly left out to dry in his role – as Kutcher’s lecherous dad – but even
though he is way too talented to play such an obtuse character, he does it
with panache.
No Strings Attached
is not reinventing the
art form and does have more than its share of awkward moments. However,
credit where it is due, No Strings Attached was much better than I
would have expected.
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2011 PopEntertainment.com.
All rights reserved. Posted: February 10, 2011.
