It’s this realism that makes the film successful, dealing with a number of situations that we are likely to experience, and with the main conflict of sex and friendship that we will all experience at some point in our lives. Likewise, Timberlake and Kunis play their characters effectively too, making it easy for them to relate to, connected us to the film in one way or another. This isn’t a typical romcom. It’s not cheesy and it’s not cringey, nor does it make you leave feeling like a lonely singleton or with a sicky feeling as an opposer of love. You will laugh throughout, get that lump in your throat at least once, and you will find yourself smiling when things work out. It’s just what the film does to you. Although Friends With Benefits is apparently a new concept, it has actually been done many times before; first with Friends (With Benefits), an independent film released in June 2009, and then earlier this year with No Strings Attached, starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. Both films follow the same story line – two friends who have no time/effort for relationships who decide to have sex and not let it ruin their
friendship but, again, it leads to complications and fall-outs as strings become attached and the two realise their undeniable love for each other. It was even a running story line in one of the first series of One Tree Hill. There isn’t technically anything new with Friends With Benefits, but it is written well enough to not let this ruin the quality of the film. Let’s hope the same for The ChangeUp which is set to be released on September 16th, as that story line has been done to death.
Release Date: 9th September 2011 Director: Will Gluck Famous Faces: Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake, Andy Samberg, Emma Stone and Jenna Elfman Soundtrack: Dominoes by The Big Pink, Hey Soul Sister by Train, Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People
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