Two stars (Fair)
"FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS" — ★★ — Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson; R (sexual content, language); in general release
If you're going to see only one comedy about a hot couple aspiring to an all-sex, no-commitment relationship … Wait. Why do you have to see only one? Or, more to the point, why do you have to see any?
The question comes up with "Friends with Benefits," in which Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis play two single people just getting out of bad breakups who decide hooking up for the sake of hooking up might be the saner way to go. Have they never been to a movie? Evidently they go to "No Strings Attached," the comedy that debuted earlier this year, with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher as two single people who decide hooking up for the sake of … you get the idea.
Not that they are identical, even though they both star alums of "That '70s Show." In "No Strings" the couple is trying a little harder to achieve a sex-only arrangement, while in "Friends" Dylan (Timberlake) and Jamie (Kunis) think constant sex without any of the messiness of romance or love or any of that sort of thing would help them remain friends, which they've been for a short time.
Jamie is a headhunter, who lands Dylan, an art designer for a website in LA, an interview with GQ magazine in New York. There is a goofy misadventure at the airport when she picks him up, involving her walking barefoot through the conveyer at baggage claim, establishing her as the kind of driven, do-anything sort. Dylan isn't sure he wants to move across the country, but after a tour Jamie promises won't be like what you see in "Seinfeld" — and is then pretty much exactly what you would see in "Seinfeld," with one notable exception — he decides to take the job.
Jamie is his only friend, and he doesn't have a romantic life (despite the best efforts of Woody Harrelson, playing an aggressive gay sports editor who continually questions Dylan's sexuality). They miss sex, they decide over a few beers, one thing leads to another and soon Portman and Kutcher … oh, sorry, wrong movie. You can see the pitfalls here.
Seriously, sort of, they embark upon a sexual relationship so casual they talk about what they had for lunch in the middle of it. But — as they would know if they saw the similarly themed "Seinfeld" episode, much less "Strings," complications inevitably ensue. These include an odd little side story involving Dylan's father, whose Alzheimer's is progressing. (He is played by Richard Jenkins, who often seems to play ill older men. It's a living, I guess. Whatever the case, he acts rings around everyone else.)
Dylan's sister (Jenna Elfman) misses her brother and would like help with their dad. But she sees that Dylan has real feelings for Jamie, even if he can't recognize them himself.
You think? (Head slap.)
Director and co-writer Will Gluck struggles a bit with consistency of tone here. How could he not? And while Timberlake and Kunis seem to be having a grand old time for the most part, other details rankle. For instance, a webpage designer wouldn't know what a flash mob is? A small thing, sure, though a flash mob will play a big role in the story.
Patricia Clarkson is kind of funny as Jamie's mom, an unreformed hippie. And Timberlake and Kunis get in a few good laughs before it's over. But with such a well-worn story you can't shake the idea you've seen this kind of thing before — and not just earlier this year. Ironically, what "Friends with Benefits" shares most with "No Strings Attached" is that in both cases you can see everything coming, with no surprises. Where's the fun in that?
"Friends With Benefits" is rated R for sexual content and language; running time: 109 minutes.