Friends with Benefits review

I was pleasantly surprised by “Friends with Benefits”, but in hindsight I should have expected it to be funny, seeing as Woody Harrelson is involved, and I’m yet to see him in a bad film.

Mila Kunis is enjoying being America’s sweetheart at the moment, and Justin Timberlake is proving himself to not be a terrible actor, and also one of the go to guys for rom coms.

Director Will Gluck supplies the pair with quips aplenty, and the fast paced nature of their on screen relationship is entertaining to watch. They throw insults and compliments back and forth like nobodies business, with Kunis snapping her lines out in excellent fashion. However, Timberlake seems slightly pompous at times with his delivery of Gluck’s smartass comebacks.

Woody Harrelson, as usual, is excellent in his roll as the gay sports editor at a magazine, constantly asking Timberlake if he is gay yet, and getting some of the more memorable lines in the film, describing himself as “strickaly dickaly” and that he wont take a ferry “unless it’s out to dinner and a show”. His delivery of the line is impeccable, and made all the better by the “bam” he throws in after to punctuate it.

Richard Jenkins also gives a terrific performance as Timberlake’s on screen father, tugging at the heartstrings just enough to produce sympathy, but not too much so as to make it all about him.

Overall a decent, modern RomCom with laughs a plenty. It’s an easy watch and one you probably won’t regret watching, if you only watch one casual sex film, make sure it’s this one. 6/10