Unless the script is terrible, romantic comedies often rise and fall on the strength and chemistry of the leads and the new film Friends With Benefits works mainly because of two very appealing stars (Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis). Timberlake’s character has recently moved to New York for a new job. After meeting Kunis at the airport, they start a friendship. Both have recently been dumped and as they spend more time together, they strike a pact to have no strings attached sex and remain friends. The film tries to poke fun at romantic comedy cliches, but in the end, it follows the romantic comedy template pretty closely and the film is at its weakest in the last half hour when the leads have to realize their true feelings for one another, etc. But even though it peters out at the end, it’s a lot of fun getting there.
There’s plenty of funny one-liners and even though the film sometimes feels like an R- rated sitcom, it’s a good sitcom. Timberlake and Kunis go a long way towards selling the material to the audience. With lesser actors, this might have been mediocre, but it ends up being entertaining.
