Paramount Pictures | 2011 | 108 mins. | R
No Strings Attached was originally titled Friends With Benefits, which was changed due to a forthcoming Justin Timberlake-Mila Kunis comedy bearing the same name and a near-identical premise: longtime friends decide to have a purely physical relationship; hence, “No Strings Attached.” If you saw last year’s Love And Other Drugs, those relationships rarely work; even in the movies.
The setting is summer camp. Young Adam (Dylan Hayes) and Emma (Stefanie Scott) are sitting along the water. They share some small talk. Adam makes a request of Emma but is turned down flat. Fifteen years, and a few chance meetings, later the two are now young professionals. Emma (Natalie Portman) is a doctor while Adam (Ashton Kutcher) is a production assistant on a “High School Musical” style television show. Adam hasn’t dated in awhile, having broken it off with his last girlfriend Vanessa (Ophilia Lovibond) eight months earlier. He visits his father, Alvin (Kevin Kline), a onetime star of a popular television show. It turns out he’s now in a relationship with Vanessa!
Distressed, Adam decides to call every girl in his phone’s contact list until one agrees to sleep with him as a kind of therapy. His pleading falls on deaf ears, until he drunkenly dials up Emma, and wakes up the next morning naked, on her couch, in front of her three roommates. One thing (a compliment on his manhood) leads to another, and soon the two are having hot sex. Adam would consider taking the relationship to the next level, but commitment-phobic Emma is happy to keep things strictly physical. The two make a deal to keep it that way, seeing each other whenever sex is desired. However, they agree to split up should either one of them become emotionally attached. Can a relationship based completely on sex last, or will this “no strings attached” relationship develop into an emotional, long-lasting bond?
No Strings Attached is a near total failure. Try as they Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher lack any real physical chemistry. They come off more like cheerful workout partners than like Mr. and Ms. Drop Your Panties Right Now. While director Ivan Reitman will always have a place in movie lore for Meatballs, Stripes and Ghostbusters, No Strings Attached is a been-there-seen-that-done-better-film.
Despite that, the acting is solid. Kutcher actually does a very good job here. He plays the confident, cocky and cool kid he’s perfected over the years. Though this time, his character does show flickers of emotional vulnerability. Beside him is Portman, who does a solid job in a genre outside of her usual stomping grounds. She is perfectly believable as a girl in need of a no-strings relationship. In the end, No Strings Attached is a fairly standard rom-com with a not so unique twist.
No Strings Attached comes to Blu-ray in the film’s original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The image is variable, depending on the scene. Some shots are sharply defined, while others are rather soft. Most of the time, it’s acceptable. Colors look deep and rich; occasionally oversaturated. There are no digital anomalies.
The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 largely reproduces the film’s soundtrack music; otherwise, it’s all center-channel, midrange dialogue. Surround sound is lacking. Frequency response, dynamics, aren’t exciting; they’re just adequate.
The special features are the expected items.
- Audio Commentary: Director Ivan Reitman discusses the story and its tone, character development, the shoot, balancing the picture’s humor and seriousness, and more.
- Sex Friends: Getting Together (1080p, 20:46): A look at Elizabeth Meriwether’s screenplay, its evolution into a motion picture, and the quality of the ensemble cast.
- Inside the Sassy Halls of Secret High (1080p, 11:22): Making the High School Musical-inspired scenes and their place in the film.
- Modern Love: The Dos and Don’ts (1080p, 8:47): Cast and crew discuss the ins and outs of modern-day relationships.
- Deleted Scenes (1080p, 11:04): Eli Hits on Patrice, Wake, “What Good Is A Boy?” Extended, Margarita Machine, Bridal Shop, and It Was You Extended.
- Alternate Storyline Scenes (1080p, 3:44): Printer and I Can’t Do This.
- Digital Copy.
- DVD Copy.
