The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
 
Features  |  Reviews
2_StudentSurvivalv2_1000x50

Review: No Strings Attached

A movie about fuck buddies that's squeamish about the term
By BETSY SHERMAN  |  January 26, 2011
1.0 1.0 Stars

A movie about fuck buddies that's squeamish about the term — it isn't only in the TV commercial that Ashton Kutcher says "sex friends" — isn't just sanitized, it's sad. In director Ivan "Jason's dad" Reitman's superficial farce, Emma (Natalie Portman) is a resident at an LA hospital who has a crazy schedule and a skeptical view of love. A casual hook-up with Adam (Kutcher), a TV writer whose girlfriend left him for his actor father, leads her to propose they use each other for sex, NSA. They agree to split as soon as either takes the relationship seriously. Since this is a comedy, the guy is the one who longs for hand holding and cuddling. It's a good premise, but Reitman and screenwriter Elizabeth Meriwether do little aside from ape Judd Apatow movies. Kutcher and Portman don't have any Gyllenhaal-Hathaway sizzle, so the movie is unsexy as well as unfunny. But Kevin Kline is a hoot as Adam's wistfully profligate father.

Related: Review: Brothers, Review: Valentine’s Day, Review: Killers, More more >
  Topics: Reviews , Entertainment, Movies, Natalie Portman,  More more >
| More
Add Comment
HTML Prohibited

 Friends' Activity   Popular   Most Viewed 
[ 10/10 ]   Dylan LeBlanc + Rich Robinson  @ T.T. the Bear's Place
[ 10/10 ]   King Richard's Faire  @ King Richard's Faire
ARTICLES BY BETSY SHERMAN
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   VINTAGE SLEAZE  |  September 28, 2011
    The grindhouse returns to the Combat Zone this weekend — in spirit, at least — as the ArtsEmerson film series, based at the Paramount Center, presents a tribute to sleazemeister David F. Friedman.
  •   REVIEW: BUCKY LARSON: BORN TO BE A STAR  |  September 13, 2011
    Of course there are copious gags about penis size and bodily fluids, but Bucky Larson could also have been a decent spoof of the porn industry, especially after Don Johnson enters the picture.
  •   REVIEW: MR. NICE  |  September 06, 2011
    Rhys Ifans is hilarious, and sexy as hell, in Bernard Rose's Blow -like true story of the crazy life of Howard Marks.
  •   REVIEW: SARAH'S KEY  |  August 02, 2011
    Sarah's Key is a superior "woman in the present becomes obsessed with woman in the past" narrative.
  •   REVIEW: FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS  |  July 26, 2011
    FWB is a well-crafted comedy of the sex-first, romance-later genre that — bonus! — isn't blatantly nonsensical.

 See all articles by: BETSY SHERMAN

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed