Friends With Benefits (2011)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Nate Z

  
  Sometimes chemistry can make up for a lot, and the dynamic, natural, and playfully flirty chemistry between stars Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis makes up for a lot of their movies shortcomings (if you know what I mean). Friends with Benefits is another tale about a guy and a girl,… More
  Sometimes chemistry can make up for a lot, and the dynamic, natural, and playfully flirty chemistry between stars Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis makes up for a lot of their movies shortcomings (if you know what I mean). Friends with Benefits is another tale about a guy and a girl, both friends, who embark on a challenge to have casual sex and not form emotional/romantic attachments. No matter how many romantic comedy clichés it points out for ridicule, it doesn?t excuse the fact that the movie becomes one big, mushy, clichéd rom-com itself, albeit with saltier language (if you know what I mean). The randy humor will occasionally feel like it?s trying too hard, afraid to let an obvious joke lie dormant for too long. That?s where the sheer star power and amiable chemistry of the leads comes in handy. Kunis and Timberlake are both rather easy on the eyes, but they have a sharp sense of comic timing and a natural interplay. Hooray, a movie about friends where they feel like actual friends. Under the direction of Will Gluck (Easy A), the film has a jaunty pace except for an extended layover in Los Angeles that seems to sap the comic mojo and chart the film?s obvious rom-com reconciliatory ending. Friends with Benefits is sexy, funny, and an easy way to waste a couple hours (if you know what I mean). Nate's Grade: B-

• Pedro H

  
  <i>Friends with Benefit</i> <b>Okay</b> This movie can be fun at times, a little boring on the other, but overall I enjoyed it. It beat my expectations. Surely one of those that catch you by surprise. The movie has the same story of two friends that decided… More
  <i>Friends with Benefit</i> <b>Okay</b> This movie can be fun at times, a little boring on the other, but overall I enjoyed it. It beat my expectations. Surely one of those that catch you by surprise. The movie has the same story of two friends that decided to have sex without emotions but end up falling in love. The only good things in this movie is the fun soundtrack, the <b>sexiness</b> of Mila Kunis, and a couple of jokes here and there. <u>Lorna:</u> <i>"Bananas in the refrigerator? What are you, Puerto Rican?"</i>

• ♥˩ƳИИ &

  
  Cast: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman, Bryan Greenberg, Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson, Andy Samberg, Emma Stone Director: Will Gluck Summary: This raucous rom-com chronicles the relationship of two busy singles, Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and… More
  Cast: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman, Bryan Greenberg, Richard Jenkins, Woody Harrelson, Andy Samberg, Emma Stone Director: Will Gluck Summary: This raucous rom-com chronicles the relationship of two busy singles, Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and Jamie (Mila Kunis), who agree to include sex in their friendship -- minus the emotions and commitment. But things get complicated. My Thoughts: "Similar to 'No Strings Attached'? Yes. But the difference is, this movie was good. I really liked this movie. Justin and Mila were so good together on screen. They had that great chemistry which is so important for a rom-com flick. Patricia Clarkson steals every scene she is in. I loved her in this and in 'Easy A'. She plays the quirky mother brilliantly. Woody Harrelson was also a treat in this film. I found his character, Tommy, very funny. In short, this movie had a great cast. I adore Mila Kunis. I think she's a great actress and I can't wait to see what she does next. I am completely impressed with Mr. Timberlake. I had my doubts about him being an actor. But I have no complaints in any of the movie's I've seen him in. I think he's great. The movie is funny, raunchy, quirky, and just a little bit sad. A feel-good flick you can have a good time watching." Tommy: "Love is not who you want to spend Friday night with, it is who you want to spend all day Saturday with."

• Melvin W

  
  Dylan: Why do women think the only way to get men to do what they want is to manipulate them?  The first thing that is clear about this movie, is that you've seen these events before. You know that going in. We actually saw it earlier in the year with No Strings Attached, and… More
  Dylan: Why do women think the only way to get men to do what they want is to manipulate them?  The first thing that is clear about this movie, is that you've seen these events before. You know that going in. We actually saw it earlier in the year with No Strings Attached, and don't worry Friends With Benefits is better. Same plot, but better execution. It's funnier, it has a better male lead, and it has a better supporting cast. Plus it has Will Gluck, the guy who was coming off the success of Easy A. Besides that, it's basically the same movie that we see at least once a year, and sometimes(like 2011) multiple times. So I'm not really going to complain about the predictability of it from now on for two reasons. One: it's to be expected, and Two: I actually enjoyed the movie. Dylan goes for a job interview in New York where he meets headhunter Jamie. She convinces him to move from L.A. and except the job at GQ. They begin a very good friendship that turns into casual slam piece friendship... and you know the rest. "Oh I just want to bang you and nothing more" turns into "I think she/he may be the one."  The cast is likable with Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake in the roles of the "friends." I've always liked Kunis since her days on That 70's Show, and I'm actually really starting to respect Timberlake as an actor, especially after seeing The Social Network last year. The supporting cast is really what sets the movie apart though. Woody Harrelson has a fairly big supporting role, plus cameos from Emma Stone and Jason Segal make for some interesting parts.  Enjoyable enough and funny enough to deserve at least one viewing. It's nothing out of the ordinary, but it is excels in it's ordinariness. If Gluck can make a movie like this work, he is going to be more than just a one hit wonder.

• John H

  
  A romantic comedy that makes fun of romantic comedies.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"I really have to stop buying into this bullshit Hollywood cliche of true love. Shut up, Katherine Heigl, you stupid, little liar!"</i> While trying to avoid the clichés of Hollywood romantic comedies, Dylan and Jamie soon discover however that adding the act… More
  <i>"I really have to stop buying into this bullshit Hollywood cliche of true love. Shut up, Katherine Heigl, you stupid, little liar!"</i> While trying to avoid the clichés of Hollywood romantic comedies, Dylan and Jamie soon discover however that adding the act of sex to their friendship does lead to complications. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> 2011 will probably go down as the year Hollywood tells us having Fuck buddies is okay and encouraged, with no less than three films this year set around the premise of pure sex without strings or emotions attached, with Love and Other Drugs and No Strings Attached setting the precedence earlier with an incredibly good looking cast in all sorts of undress - Anne Hathaway, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher - and added to the list will be current IT guy and girl Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis rolling beneath the sheets in a typical love story between the emotionally unavailable and the emotionally damaged. You know the clichéd drill by now, with things moving along fine and dandy, the hint of emotions coming into play to really turn things upside down, the narrative montage to show how frequent they mate like jackrabbits, before some large, needy episode or statements uttered that will probably reveal the true state of affairs, and the list goes on. Deny all you want, but one cannot help but to agree that the fairer sex will have things rough if pacts of this nature turn sour, and expectedly in a movie they always do, otherwise everyone will be happy without adversary, frustration and challenges to overcome and provide that change in strength of character. And it is this power of the cliché that absolutely calls the shots in films like these. You know what will happen, but want to see them happen anyway even though you're multiple steps ahead of every character. And it is precisely these expectations that anyone would want to see covered, and try as the filmmakers want it is the clichés that they find hard to break away from, even if characters here proclaim very early on that romance in their world shouldn't be like an unbelievable Hollywood film, but in what would be art imitating art, look who's talking to begin with. With Andy Samberg and Emma Stone making cameos (the latter being extremely crazy as a fanatical John Mayer fan), Friends With Benefits has its main leads to thank for in milking quite the cliché story for the masses, who are likely to make a beeline just to see those two in some down and dirty action, not that you get to see a lot to begin with anyway. Recommended, and stay tuned until after the end credits roll for more commentary when the two are sitting at a couch watching the outtakes of a DVD movie.

• Brad W

  
  Friends With Benefits might make a comeback for romantic comedies. Friends with Benefits is about Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and Jamie (Mila Kunis) who have just got out of bad relationships, and are emotionally broken and want nothing to do with relationships. When Dylan travels to… More
  Friends With Benefits might make a comeback for romantic comedies. Friends with Benefits is about Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and Jamie (Mila Kunis) who have just got out of bad relationships, and are emotionally broken and want nothing to do with relationships. When Dylan travels to New York City tosee if he will move there and get a new job, Jamie's job is to make sure he says yes to the job, When hanging around New York City, the two soon become close friends and he accepts the job. They soon hang out one night and start talking about sex and relationships and they decide to become friends with benefits, to have sex and stay friends. But can this plan they have really work out, go see the movie. Now I know what your thinking, No Strings Attached 2, but what you don't know is that this is much better than No Strings Attached, and the reason why is the the story and jokes. The plot of the film is basic, but some how and some way it kept my attention even though we all know the cliche ending coming because its a romantic comedy, but whats cool is that the movie has a scene where they make fun of cliche romantic cliche endings, and it shows that the two characters don't want that, but they get it in the end anyway. The actors and performances were amazing, I couldn't believe how much I loved these characters and how much chemistry the two have and how well it worked. If you know me well you will know I have a huge crush on Mila Kunis, and this movie just shows that she is improving as an actor with each new film. Justin Timberlake starred in The Social Network and he was amazing, in Bad Teacher it was a bad movie but Timberalke was so funny in it I cried at one scene he was in it was so funny, now hes in this and hes just as funny, interesting and cool. The jokes were so funny, it completely is based on relationship jokes, and pop culture references and for some reason I think this is (next to Horrible Bosses) the funniest movie of 2011 so far. Now I know what your thinking, then why does he give it on 3.5? I gave it 3.5 stars because there was this weird dramatic sub plot about Dylans dad losing his mind to alsheimers, which was a pretty pointless story and im tired of all this drama in a movie that funny for an hour straight and I laughed all the way through then they started trying to get all sad and stuff. Then it had the biggest cliche moment that almost every film with a romantic interest has nowadays, the moment where the guy screws up and she hears or sees him secretly saying something bad about her, and then they get back together later. It may possibly be the best romantic comedy in recent years, and even though its cliche, its a great movie.

• Jameson W

  
  I really liked this film. It's completely predictable, adding nothing new or exciting to add to the romantic comedy genre, but it's well done. Solid script, interesting characters, and great lead performances drive this film to a higher level that it wouldn't have been… More
  I really liked this film. It's completely predictable, adding nothing new or exciting to add to the romantic comedy genre, but it's well done. Solid script, interesting characters, and great lead performances drive this film to a higher level that it wouldn't have been in otherwise. Justin Timberlake and the beautiful Mila Kunis give solid performances and have excellent chemistry together. I definitely recommend seeing this film!

• Cynthia S

  
  Not a huge fan of this movie. Something just seemed off. Was it the acting? the writing? I'm not sure, but within the first few minutes I could tell that it was not what I expected. I LOVE a good romantic comedy, too. Everything in this movie just seemed forced. Huge… More
  Not a huge fan of this movie. Something just seemed off. Was it the acting? the writing? I'm not sure, but within the first few minutes I could tell that it was not what I expected. I LOVE a good romantic comedy, too. Everything in this movie just seemed forced. Huge disappointment for me, because this was a movie that I was looking forward to.

• Lewis C

  
  Friends with Benefits is much funnier and raunchier than your average romantic comedy. What really makes it work is the on-screen chemistry between Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake, who have both never been more charismatic or appealing than they are here. The two keep things… More
  Friends with Benefits is much funnier and raunchier than your average romantic comedy. What really makes it work is the on-screen chemistry between Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake, who have both never been more charismatic or appealing than they are here. The two keep things interesting (and sexy) even when the story takes a turn for familiar territory. Which it inevitably does. Two attractive friends decide to have a strictly physical arrangement in order to avoid the typical complications of a relationship, but things inexorably get messy when feelings start to encroach, despite their best attempts to keep things casual. We're hardly in spoiler territory, here, and while the story isn't revolutionary, there are enough wrinkles in it to keep it from feeling stale. And as I said before, Kunis and Timberlake are so likable that just having them on the screen is entertaining. The first half of the movie is quite amusing, too, though that gets toned down some as things get more serious. In the battle of "friends having sex movies" between this, Love and Other Drugs (admittedly, that movie ultimately goes for a very different vibe) and No Strings Attached, Friends with Benefits is definitely the winner in my opinion. Both guys and girls should have a good time with this.

• Jeff "

  
  Friends with Benefits was a total disappointment for me. I expected so much from this film, but I was let down with film. I thought it was waste of time, with two funny bits in the entire film, and cliché after cliché of every other rom-com that has ever been made before it. The film… More
  Friends with Benefits was a total disappointment for me. I expected so much from this film, but I was let down with film. I thought it was waste of time, with two funny bits in the entire film, and cliché after cliché of every other rom-com that has ever been made before it. The film was quite unfunny, and relied too much on old ideas from other comedies to try and do something new for a romantic comedy. Unfortunately, I didn't think much of this film, and found it quite boring. The film could have been much better than this, and there was so much potential wasted on-screen. As usual, Friends with Benefits is predictable like every other romantic comedy that came before it. What's funnier is that the two main characters make fun of such romantic clichés in the film, yet the film goes the exact same way. To call this a refreshing take on rom-com is really pushing it, I think. I found that the film was derivative and did nothing to appeal to me. This was a pointless film with two comedic bits in the entire film; I laughed twice and was bored for 98% of the film. I really can't recommend this stinker, and I think along with The Hangover Part II, this is one of the worst comedies of the year. I think that's a great shame because the film had potential of being a good comedy film. Unfortunately the film suffers from an awful script and add to that awful performances, and you have a comedy that doesn't deliver the laughs, but delivers boredom.

• Wildaly M

  
  Fast paced, funny rom-com with leads that have chemistry. Not to be missed.

• MisterYoda ?

  
  three stars!!

• Spencer S

  
  Much better than I was expecting, but still the contrived mess that comes from a film that is a satire of a genre we all would rather silently tolerate and watch in guilty pleasure. Romantic comedies aren't ever very smart, raunchy, or entertaining unless you're in the right… More
  Much better than I was expecting, but still the contrived mess that comes from a film that is a satire of a genre we all would rather silently tolerate and watch in guilty pleasure. Romantic comedies aren't ever very smart, raunchy, or entertaining unless you're in the right frame of mind, but somehow Friends makes a real point of making the characters more than templates with a few quirky characteristics. Though Kunis' character has the same problems as movie heroines in every film of this caliber, she's also equally likable, balancing between being one of the guys and having the "emotional damage" from her sporadically present mother; influencing her throughout her chaotic life. The main problem with Kunis' character is that she is not damaged enough. It's supposed to be the fulcrum onto which the movie balances Timberlake's problems, and also is the reason they're apart. Timberlake on the other hand is plenty damaged, with parents that don't do well together, and a father who can't do anything at all. What really irks me is the same problem that No Strings Attached had, which is that the couple didn't really start off as friends. They have known each other for a short amount of time, and have a quiet yet friendly relationship, but what we all want to see is two longtime friends, possibly since childhood, who become sex buddies. They both know each other's ins and outs, and have compatibility enough to not hurt one another. These films aren't about friends with benefits, but two people starting a relationship without putting a label on it. That's called being loose. I think what really annoys me overall, is that there is zero chemistry between them. It was really funny at certain times, and the writing was good, but their relationship wasn't believable and that ruined it for me. There's only so much a romantic comedy can do.

• Kristijonas F

  
  While Friends with Benefits isn't exactly an innovator in the rom-com genre, the film is witty, upbeat and relentlessly hilarious. The banter that often ensues between the two leads is priceless, and Woody Harrelson's performance packs a hell of a comedic punch.

• Dead A

  
  Jamie: <i>Why don't they ever make a movie about what happens after the big kiss?</i> Dylan: <i>They do. It's called porn.</i> Very predictable but not bad.

• Nani V

  
  Loved Mila Kunis' character; she really made the movie. Cute, funny, and sweet. It's a must watch with your friend with benefits. lol

• Manu G

  
  While trying to avoid the clichés of Hollywood romantic comedies, Dylan and Jamie soon discover however that adding the act of sex to their friendship does lead to complications. Good movie. If you like the film 'No strings attached' then your gonna like this one too… More
  While trying to avoid the clichés of Hollywood romantic comedies, Dylan and Jamie soon discover however that adding the act of sex to their friendship does lead to complications. Good movie. If you like the film 'No strings attached' then your gonna like this one too because it's basically the same story with a change of actors and change of story here and there. Happy ending which was like the whole movie very predictable. It's a decent movie to watch with young actors that are hot right now on the showbiz and they both show some butt on it. A young female headhunter (Mila Kunis) in New York convinces a potential recruit (Justin Timberlake) to leave his job in San Francisco behind and accept a job in the big apple. Despite an attraction to each other, both realize they're everything they've been running from in a relationship and decide to become friends...with benefits. It's the perfect arrangement--until they realize there's no such thing as no strings attached.

• Fernando Rafael Q

  
  A pleasant surprise. Friends with Benefits is not deep, insightful or intense. It's simply entertaining, like a fresh, delightfully self-referential romantic comedy starring two impossibly attractive people should be. The quick banter between Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis… More
  A pleasant surprise. Friends with Benefits is not deep, insightful or intense. It's simply entertaining, like a fresh, delightfully self-referential romantic comedy starring two impossibly attractive people should be. The quick banter between Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis carries the movie; it's irresistible. Seriously, it's amazingly agile, just like a game of tennis (using the annoying metaphor from the movie). The supporting and bit players are almost as fun. There's a subplot regarding Dylan's (Justin Timberlake) Alzheimer's-stricken father (a wonderful Richard Jenkins) that seems deliberately thrown in there to up the drama a little bit, although that doesn't make it less affecting. All in all, Will Gluck's latest is superior to the similarly themed, early-2011 release No Strings Attached.

• Matheus C

  
  It obviously falls into all the romantic comedy traps it makes fun of (this is Hollywood, after all) but the witty script, the charm of its leading stars (never ever thought I would praise Justin Timberlake) and historically funny sex scene that would cause Almodóvar to feel envious… More
  It obviously falls into all the romantic comedy traps it makes fun of (this is Hollywood, after all) but the witty script, the charm of its leading stars (never ever thought I would praise Justin Timberlake) and historically funny sex scene that would cause Almodóvar to feel envious make it worth an unpretentious look.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings