Romantic comedy. R. 1 hour, 49 minutes. Opens today at area theaters.
Let’s just say “Friends With Benefits” had us at goodbye.
Directed with quick-witted ease by Will Gluck, the frank, frisky, even touching romantic comedy begins with two breakups.
They unfold on opposite coasts, and each contains a lot of Splitsville boilerplate: “We can still be friends,” “We’re moving in different directions,” “It’s me, not you. . . .”
Then there are the more personalized assessments. Art/design whiz Dylan is “distant.” Corporate headhunter Jamie is “emotionally damaged.”
Likeables Justin Timberlake and Milas Kunis play Dylan and Jamie. Andy Samberg and this summer’s gem, Emma Stone, do splendidly loopy work as the other halves in the splintering relationships.
When Jamie recruits Dylan for a possible gig as the art director of storied men’s fashion magazine GQ, he leaves L.A. for Manhattan. The scenes of New York and Los Angeles are the other opposites that are meant to attract.
The foxy duo hit it off well enough to begin a friendship. Being between meaningful relationships, they’re silly enough to believe they can stir sex into the mix without complications.
This, alas, is the moment when we must mention “No Strings Attached,” which earlier this year put Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher’s characters through similar paces — only to so much lesser effect, we resent having to mention that dud at all.
Gluck directed last fall’s high-school comedy “Easy A.” Like that securely glib and nearly as wise update of “The Scarlet Letter,” this comedy (penned by Gluck, Keith Merryman and David A. Newman) is acutely aware of its influences, good and bad.
“Friends With Benefits” gives nods to “Pretty Woman” and 1969 free-love comedy-drama “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.” Dylan and Jamie watch and critique a fabricated romcom, starring Jason Segel and Rashida Jones, that ladles the cliches.
“Why don’t they make a movie about what happens after the big kiss?” Jamie ponders.
“They do,” Dylan replies. “Porn.”
The movie spends as much time taking romantic comedies to task as it does trying to build a better, more resonant one for the age of hookups. Is that cynical? We’re not sure; we’re suckers for a romantic comedy that smartly updates the courtship dance even as it sells savvier, ever-hopeful audiences once again on notions of eternal connection.
This story gives its leads serious jobs but doesn’t spend much time taking work seriously, a minor failing. And it doesn’t imagine fiscal woes for its young characters. They have their smartphones and iPads and, before he relocates to New York, Dylan revs his sleek roadster convertible. Which isn’t to say there aren’t sorrows.
Richard Jenkins — a boon to any film — plays Dylan’s father, a journalist losing the threads of his story to Alzheimer’s. Jenna Elfman portrays Dylan’s sister.
And Jamie’s upbringing hasn’t been exactly smooth. Nearly incomparable in her own right, Patricia Clarkson arrives as Lorna, Jamie’s bohemian and boundary- challenged mom.
The script brims with tossed-off quips and clever asides whose references run the gamut from George Clooney to less-than-classic hip-hop duo Kris Kross. Third Eye Blind provides a running joke. Snowboarder Shaun White does unexpected, bizarrely arch work. And Woody Harrelson provides a freshly butch gloss on the gay co-worker role.
Gluck plays to his stars’ strengths. Kunis’ large, dark eyes are just the beginning of her assets. Time and again, she brings a heady mix (two parts capable to one part vulnerable) to her characters.
Watchers of “Saturday Night Live” know Timberlake can crack wise. He always exudes that additional music- performer certainty, which is exploited to fine effect.
Of course, other romantic comedies can have charming leads like this one. They can have talented ensembles like this one. And still, the magic can elude the film’s makers and the audience.
So why does this tale of no-strings sex, full-on friendship and their possibilities work so winningly?
The same reason some relationships sparkle and others fizzle: chemistry, providence and mighty fine timing.
Film critic Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com; also on
