The plot is a path well-trodden: professional web geek Dylan (Justin Timberlake) gets headhunted by the sassy executive searcher Jamie (Mila Kunis) and a friendship (replete with sex, of course) blossoms from their initial interactions. In the world of Hollywood logic, however, sex always comes with the price of emotional complication.
Unlike its rom-com brethren, however, Friends With Benefits doesn`t pull the 180-degree turn to sappy romance stuff on us 10 minutes into the movie, remaining blissfully cynical in tone throughout the movie, despite the obligatory romantic ending. Timberlake and Kunis share a hilarious, scintillating chemistry that propel this high-spirited, raunch-fest so that we enjoy every minute of the ride, even though we know exactly how it`s going to end.
Mad props has to go to the film`s screenwriters (all four of them) for the refreshingly cynical, irreverent dialogue, as well as the hyperactive pacing that never lets up for a second. Supporting cast members, while somewhat extraneous, add a well-needed emotional dimension to the film, which manages to flesh out its protagonists without ever coming across as overly sentimental. Of particular note is Richard Jenkins, who nails his role as Dylan`s Alzheimer`s-stricken dad, evoking pathos amidst the general hilarity.
There`s little else to say about this film: if you`re a rom-com hater, this film is unlikely to make a convert of you. But for those of you who are blissfully engaged, precariously attached, or who haveâ€