No Strings Attached (2011)

2/5

No Strings Attached is a "romantic comedy" about two friends attempting to be friends with benefits (or actually friends with only one benefit, namely sexual intercourse). I put romantic comedy in quotes because you would be hard-pressed to find any romance in this film and the comedic elements fall flat about as frequently as they succeed. Natalie Portman plays a weird girl who is uncomfortable with intimacy; throughout the entire film we never get a sense of why she is the way she is. Ashton Kutcher plays the same character he has played for the past 10 years in romantic comedies, and there was nothing new or unique about it the first time we saw it. As for the plot, it progresses predictably into disaster when one party wants more than just sex. Whatever will they do.

Movies like No Strings Attached really frustrate me. It's not the quality of the movie that I find irritating, but the fact that it has so much potential that it chooses to throw away on cheap jokes and superficial meaning. Natalie Portman is incredible in this movie; she gives her character as much depth and warmth as possible, but the character is just written so shallowly that her talent is wasted. Half of the jokes are hilarious, but the other half you could practically hear crickets chirp in the theater. It was painful how bad they were and I actually felt embarrassed for the movie. The relationship between the two main characters is absent until the ending (maybe I'm just being naive, but I thought you had to be friends before you could be friends with benefits). The movie itself is okay, and there are plenty of laughs (more than any Will Ferrell or Ben Stiller comedy that I've seen), but it just feels like a half a movie. I can't recommend it in good conscience.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1411238/

What Happens in Vegas (2008)

2/5

What Happens in Vegas should have stayed in Vegas instead of being made into a movie. The plot follows Jack Fuller (Kutcher) and Joy McNally (Diaz) who get hitched in a drunken stupor after respectively being fired by his father and dumped by her fiance. They decide the marriage was a mistake and agree to get a divorce. As they are bitterly parting ways, Jack takes Joy's last token and plays the slot machine and wins 3 million dollars. They both feel entitled to the money, but the judge in the divorce hearings sentences them to 6 months of attempting a real marriage before he releases the funds to either one of them. They soon realize that they don't have to fake trying to be married to each other as long as they make it seem as if the other person isn't trying (e.g., by tempting them with attractive sexpots and/or Zach Galafianakis of The Hangover fame).

The directing in this movie is atrocious, as is every other aspect one might look for in a respectful movie. The only redeeming quality about this movie is the acting by Diaz and Kutcher after about the one hour mark. Before the one hour mark, their characters are despicable lowlifes and the jokes/pranks they play on each other are equally mean and petty. Once they start developing a real connection to each other is when we finally see some depth and honesty in their roles. It really is a pretty remarkable transformation. The leads' sassy best friends (Bell and Corddry) are pretty engaging and humorous throughout the film, however. They were the only things keeping us from turning the movie off after ten minutes and throwing the disc into my brand new shredder. If you give this movie a chance and find that you've made it through an hour of this film, you will be pleasantly surprised by a heartfelt ending (followed by an awesome punch in the balls). But avoid it if you can.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1033643/

It's Complicated (2009)

3/5

It's Complicated is a benign piece of entertainment that follows divorced couple Jane (Streep) and Jake (Baldwin) Adler. Jake cheated on Jane 10 years ago with the much-younger Agness (Bell) and ended up marrying her; he is now cheating on his current wife Agness with his ex-wife Jane. Jane isn't convinced that it will work out again with Jake, even if he leaves Agness, and finds a budding romance in her new architect Adam (Martin). She tries balancing her two men, but finds it far too complicated and decides that she must pick one. Who will she pick?

The writing and acting worked well together, delivering impeccable comic timing. Unfortunately, the movie as a whole isn't as funny as I know the writer and actors to be capable of, nor is it as meaningful or interesting. And that is the worst part about the movie for me: I couldn't really understand what the characters were going through. I mean, I could imagine what they were going through, but the movie presented all of its content in such a comical and flamboyant manner that I can't say I'm anywhere closer to understanding divorce than before I saw this movie. I'm not saying the movie has an obligation to do this, and in fact the movie works as a simple 2 hour escape, but I was just hoping that it would be closer to Meyers's previous The Holiday. The movie as a whole turned out rather bland for me (maybe I was just expecting too much), but it will certainly suffice for someone looking for a romantic comedy with old people making out (and undressing).

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1230414/

Over Her Dead Body (2008)

2/5

Jeff Lowell's Over Her Dead Body is a clichéd romantic comedy about a woman who dies on her wedding day (Eva Longoria Parker), the groom who can't move on a year later (Paul Rudd), and a psychic who will tell him her dead fiancée wants him to move on (Lake Bell). It gets a bit more unnecessarily complicated, but suffice it to say that the two living people end up living happily ever after in the end. The hour and a half it took to get there involve a jealous ghost, a gay/straight Jason Biggs, and endless scenes where nothing interesting or funny happens. Actually, if you do find this plot mildly interesting, I recommend instead that you just watch the trailer, which contains all the good jokes, is available online for free, and only takes 2 minutes.

The characters are appallingly shallow, the music is magnificently inappropriate, and the special effects are low-budget and unconvincing. The plot detours a number of times and opportunities for cleverness and unique characterizations were ignored. Still, it was able to generate some honest laughs from me. I was surprised at some tender scenes in the beginning and Paul Rudd's acting was genuine throughout. But trust me--just watch the trailer.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0785007/