What first drew us to the movie No Strings Attached was its tagline: Can Best Friends Be Sex Friends? Having always wondered this question ourselves, we deemed the film worth watching.
Sadly, No Strings Attached began and ended without providing an answer.
The movie’s protagonists were never best friends to begin with, and did not become best friends at any point, making its tagline completely irrelevant.
Many other questions, however, were posed and then eventually resolved. Can sex friends stay sex friends? Can acquaintances become sex friends and then become something more? Can Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher meet a few times over the course of 15 years, begin having a lot of hot, noncommittal sex, and not fall in love with each other?
According to this fine film, the answers are, respectively, no, yes, and no. As anyone besides Portman’s character could have guessed, it is humanly impossible to hook up with Ashton Kutcher without falling in love with him.
Though predictably predictable, No Strings Attached nonetheless surpassed all our expectations. First of all, any movie that begins with the song “I Wanna Sex You Up” by Color Me Badd playing in the background is sure to be a great success. And No Strings Attached only gets better from there.
The movie is so funny (both intentionally and unintentionally) that its imperfections can easily be overlooked. Sure, it’s a typical chick flick with an ending that can be guessed from the trailer, but it’s also an awkwardly hilarious piece of cinema.
Many of the minor characters bring laughter and life to the film. From Kutcher’s movie star dad (Kevin Kline) and hyperactive, garrulous coworker (Lake Bell), to Portman’s many hilarious roommates (Mindy Kaling, Greta Gerwig, and Guy Branum), the less prominent cast members make the movie. Without them, Kutcher’s goofy demeanor and Portman’s cold self-sufficiency would add up to only a lukewarm comedy.
The combination of complex and interesting supporting characters, funny one-liners, awkward situations, and the answer to some of the world’s most pressing questions makes this film worth viewing despite its shortcomings.
And while the movie’s few attempts to evoke emotion from the audience only ended in unintentional hilarity, Ren Burress and Ziyad Abdelfattah felt that the movie redeemed itself through its clever references to Lil Wayne.
Besides, who can resist the chance to see hip-hop sensation Ludacris playing a sensitive bartender?
