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Of course, the name of this film means just what it sounds like. "Benefits", meaning sex without any strings - RIGHT! Jamie (Mila Kunis) a New York based "Executive Headhunter" is chasing a major league commission in the pursuit of Dylan Harper (Justin Timberlake), an LA internet art director. "GQ" magazine in New York wants him to move to New York City and take a major job with them. Jamie convinces him to come to NYC for a look. She shows him around and finally he decides to accept the job position. With no other friends in NYC, one night they are talking about sex and relationships, and both conclude that a relationship without emotional entanglements is what they need. Big Mistake! There is no such thing, and it doesn't take long for the both of them to become miserable. Jamie starts dating somebody else, but after a short fling, he splits, leaving her feeling cheap. Within months, Dylan is thinking about returning to LA, and if he does, she loses her commission, because it pays after he is on the job for a year. Feeling sorry for Jamie, Dylan talks her into visiting LA with him over the 4th of July holidays. He is really nuts about her, but fears that she doesn't feel the same way. While in California strong emotional romantic feelings for each other begin to form and they share a passionate kiss, which leads to a night of close intimacy unlike any they had shared before. The next day, when Dylan's sister asks about their relationship, he tells her that they are just friends, and there is nothing to it. Jamie overhears him and is hurt; she returns to NYC alone. He follows in a couple of days and when he tries to reconcile, she tells him about overhearing his conversation with his sister. Dylan is now seriously thinking of returning to LA. Jamie don't want to lose the job commission, but even more doesn't want to lose Dylan. They are both miserable! Jamie is talking to her mother about him, and Dylan talking to his sister about her. Both totally understand the impossible situation that they have put each other through, pretending that this sort of relationship could possibly be successful without feelings developing. They both realize that they are in love with one another, and finally get together unleashing their emotional desires after all. This was an enjoyable movie.Read full review
"Friends with Benefits" has a lightning fast, very smart script, it moves like a limousine, and it features another stunningly moving character turn by Richard Jenkins. It's good enough that it revives hope for that troubled genre, the Romantic Comedy. It's worth seeing, more than once. "Friends with Benefits" surprised me. I don't understand why Justin Timberlake is famous - what is remarkable about him, really? - and Mila Kunis does nothing for me. We live in the age of decline of the Romantic Comedy. "Friends with Benefits" was not the forgettable, rote, mass-produced studio product I expected. It was actually really good. "Friends with Benefits" began really fast, and I found myself bobbing along on the script's energy. I noticed how much I was enjoying it and I kept waiting for the film to drop the ball, to let me down, to betray itself, to fall into predictable clichéd traps. That didn't happen for quite a while, and the film's failings were slow in coming, minor, and didn't ruin the film. What "Friends with Benefits" does right it does very, very right. The script is amazing. There are jokes that you'd need some literacy and maturity to understand. They fly right by, no pause for the viewer to laugh, or to google the references, before the next one-liner or trenchant observation rolls down the chute. Our culture has been so dumbed down that hearing a joke that one would have to have some knowledge of history or culture or even just the front page of the newspaper to understand amazed and gratified me. The movie's strong point is that it is so fast; that's also a bit of a weak point. Legendary director Frank Capra said that "sometimes your story has to stop and you just let your audience look at your people. You want your audience to like them...these scenes are quite important to a film. When the audience rests and they look at the people, they begin to smile." "Friends with Benefits" is so frenetic, it never creates a memorable screen moment where Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and Jamie (Mila Kunis) do nothing but look movie-star lovely and get under our skin. Richard Jenkins works some powerful mojo. He's a character actor, older, bland-looking and bald, but in every movie I've seen him in lately, especially so in "Eat Pray Love," he seems to be visiting from a different, better movie, and I want, after the movie I'm watching is over, to watch the superior film from which Jenkins has visited. In "Friends with Benefits" Jenkins plays Dylan's father who is suffering the early stages of Alzheimer's. He is funny, profound, arresting and truly lovable. What is Jenkins doing? Whatever it is, more actors should do it. Jenna Elfman, Patricia Clarkson, Woody Harrelson, Nolan Gould and Masi Oka are all very, very good in supporting roles. Clarkson, as Jamie's mother, delivers a liner about Jamie's father that made me laugh out loud. On the surface, "Friends with Benefits" looks like too many other, lesser movies. It's not. It's a really good, worthwhile film.Read full review
A romantic comedy that has a great pace and manages to appeal to both genders. Timberlake and Kunis are very good in the lead roles and the supporting cast is well put together. Nothing new in the storyline with this movie, but it is done fairly well. If you wish to appreciate a good spin on an old concept with stellar humor and humanity, it is worth the watch.
A very funny movie with a unique twist. Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake have good chemistry and able to pull this movie through all of its quirks. Patricia Clarkson also has a funny part as a hippie living in current times removed from the heydays of the flower child dynamic. lots of laughs in this movie.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
For mature audiences. Two people both with relationship trust issues. Reluctant to continue the usual routine of dating and just when the relationship emotionally seemed to be ready for the next level, the other person ends the relationship. The emotional frustration and physical needs lead to a mutual "physical needs only" pact hoping to keep from another emotional rejection. Which backfires when both become emotionally attached with each other.
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