No Strings Attached
Review
by Anthony Morris
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No Strings Attatched
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One of the many, many problems with romantic comedies is that they all have to end the exact same way. Sometimes it doesn't matter; when you're making a film like No Strings Attatched about "friends with benefits" it really does. That's
because the "no strings attached" kind of relationship is generally
seen as being a substitute for, rather than a stepping stone to, the
traditional kind of relationship - which is how all romantic comedies
must end. It's like watching a commercial for the Reject
Shop that starts out with a character wearing Armani : you know how it
has to end, and it's not the way you want things to go. That's not the least of No Strings Attatched's
problems, mind you : for starters, it begins with a series of scenes
that show how Adam (Aston Kutcher) and Emma (Natalie Portman) keep
meeting every few years before they finally fall into bed together,
except that all these scenes do is make both of them seem really
annoying. He's annoying because he's this innocent nice guy
who makes clumsy sex chat, she's annoying because she's this reserved
uptight type who doesn't want a "real" relationship, and actually
they're both annoying because already we know exactly where this story
is heading. The supporting cast are slightly more
memorable, mostly because they get to be quirky without overstaying
their welcome, but being both unromantic and unfunny is a bit of a
problem for a rom-com, especially as there's zero chemistry between the
leads. Natalie Portman especially lacks the warmth and
charm desperately needed in this kind of film (even if her character
has been written to supposedly lack warmth and charm).
When
you couple that with supposedly snappy lines like "emotional peanut
allergy" and "I can't focus on my porn with all this real sex going on
around me", the result is a film that makes hassle-free sex look about
as appealing as marrying a plastic frog. 2.5 out
of 5
No Strings Attatched
Australian release: 10th February,
2011
Official
Site: No Strings Attatched
Cast: Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Kline, Greta Gerwig, Lake
Bell, Olivia Thirlby
Director: Ivan Reitman
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