Ashton Kutcher goes against type since he’s always the stud of any film and stars as Adam, an aspiring television screenwriter who has absolutely no luck with women, even having to suffer some loss of face with his ex-girlfriends preferring a relationships with his television star dad (Kevin Kline). Who is way older. But richer of course. For a guy, I suppose this is something quite agreeable, so Adam goes for it.

While Love and Other Drugs got an M18 rating for its gratuitous nudity, this one was rated the same but had none of the showing of that much skin, only because it featured a pair of lesbians going at it while clothed. Still, with Ivan Reitman (who makes a cameo too) at the helm, one would have thought that it may have offered at least something out of the ordinary, but no such luck as the film had it pat down right to the expected finale on how things would turn out in Hollywood.

If you think you’ve seen enough of Natalie Portman lately, think again. The current It girl who has been sweeping up awards for her Black Swan portrayal, she’s having a busy 2011 as well with the upcoming Marvel summer blockbuster Thor and other films such as Your Highness and Cloud Atlas. While she and Kutcher share some delightful chemistry, being first of all good lookers is almost the requisite in any romantic film, the casting of the two who have such a difference in height also made it as passing jibes in the film, while you can’t help but to notice some distracting camera angles being employed to make the difference none too jarring so that they can share the same frame, or perhaps Portman could have been standing on a soapbox.

The story isn’t much more than boy meets girl over and over again until they finally give in to their attraction. There isn’t any real obstacles in their relationship. It’s all in her head.

Natalie is a the one who insists on the « no relationship with strings », just a sexual arrangement as she works weird hours and needs to relax. Ashton apparently has the equipment to help her relax. As all chick flicks go, we know how it turns out, the fun is watching it get there.

Both Adam and Emma only go at it like crazy jackrabbits in a montage, and other than that the narrative treaded on perfect rom-com ground, without quite the intelligent and interesting story that Love and Other Drugs had

The problem with this 2011 film that I see is with the writing. Would you want a doctor-to-be such as Natalie Portman portrays in this film? She is a sex-driven character who has known the Ashton Kutcher character from childhood at certain interludes of their life. Imagine saying to Kutcher when they’re young adults: Come with me tomorrow. Tomorrow is the place where she brings Kutcher to her father’s funeral.

Greetings again from the darkness. If you have read even a few of my reviews, you know I am not typically a fan of the Hollywood Rom-Com. I find most of them lazy, lame, predictable and irritating. But when legendary comedy director Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Dave, Stripes) gets involved, I will at least pay attention. Here Mr. Reitman directs a script that on the surface will examine the Friends with Benefits phenomenon.

Throughout his 15 years we see how he has this magnetic attraction for Emma (Natalie Portman) and vice versa, only that both of them fail to want to admit it, with Emma preferring a no-frills sexual relationship in lieu of a proper one that involves feelings

But more powerful than that, is the shift toward the alpha-female type of character, even if just for a while, laying the ground rules and setting the parameters in which a courtship, friendship and relationship should be based upon. Gone out the window are the demure and needy types, and in come female characters who know what they want, are high fliers, doing charitable causes and the likes, and just having the guys strung around their finger. Rudyard Kipling’s « . the female of the species is more deadly than the male.  » is steadfast here, where the only time the male characters are needed, is for that recreational purpose. They do not want commitment, nor settle down or want to be in a long term relationship, skipping past chances to get emotionally hurt, and prefer to keep things status quo in their singledom.