Friends With Benefits

MOVIE REVIEW

Timberlake and Kunis make ‘Friends’ worth watching

July 22, 2011|By Ty Burr, Globe Staff

Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are in synch in the romantic comedy Friends… (Glen Wilson/Sony Screen…)

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FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS Directed by: Will Gluck

Written by: Will Gluck, David A. Newman, Harley Peyton, Keith Merryman

Starring: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman,

Richard Jenkins

At: Boston Common,

Fenway, suburbs

Running time: 109 minutes

Rated: R (sexual content

and language)

“Friends With Benefits” is a mainstream metrosexual romantic comedy, and that sounds as if it shouldn’t work at all. That it works like a charm - that it mostly keeps its manic energy in check, and that it plays to chick-flick formulas without ever groveling - is due almost entirely to the leads. We saw this same movie last winter, when it was called “No Strings Attached’’ and starred Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman. Welcome to the much improved remake featuring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, two stars we actually want to see. Also making their debut appearance together: a pace, a pulse, and a script.

She plays Jamie, a hard-charging Manhattan headhunter; he plays Dylan, an LA graphic designer she woos east to work for GQ. Right there you’ve got what makes this movie different, or different enough. She’s ballsy, he’s finicky. She’s brutally direct, he’s sly and playful. In terms of this genre, she’s the guy and he’s the girl. Brilliant - why didn’t they think of it before?

As with the earlier film, it’s established that these two are perfect for each other but decide to cheat fate by going for sex and friendship and skipping the bothersome love part. After some pro forma gags about New York versus Los Angeles, yadda yadda, “Friends With Benefits’’ settles into its actual order of business, which is watching the two stars bicker at warp speed.

Both Kunis and Timberlake have livened up plenty of movies from the sidelines (“Black Swan’’ and “The Social Network’’ for starters), but putting them together as leads is a gamble: Do they have the weight to hold the center? Wrong question, since weight is exactly what a studio cupcake like this shouldn’t have. (The combined presence of Portman and Kutcher sank “No Strings Attached’’ like a stone.)

Kunis’s easy authority grounds the movie, while Timberlake tapdances delightfully around the edges. His voice and his manner are light, there’s barely a hair on the guy’s chest, yet his confidence and wit are sexy in a way entirely befitting a smart urban romance. Her, after admitting to doing a background check: “How could you max out an Old Navy card?’’ Him: “I was really into cargo pants!’’ We’re definitely on the other side of the looking glass here.