Friends With Benefits

Movie, 2011, R

Premise - After a man moves to New York for a job, he develops a close friendship with his recruiter. The two decide to have casual sex with no romantic implications, just for the fun of the physical act. Promising to stay friends afterwards, what they may initially lack in romantic passion, they make up for in the ability to have healthy communications about their own sexual desires.

Review - The first time I saw this film was with a few guy friends who hated rom-coms. I suggested we watch a rom-com, and they gave me hell for it during the entire movie, so of course I left the film with the feeling that it was just alright. I joked with them that I was a rom-com connoisseur, and I had to check this off my list, but that didn't mean I was actually into it. I remember hiding my own frustration at how unrealistic it felt because my guy friends would never be Justin Timberlake. Since watching it back, however, I actually think it's a fantastic film, and definitely one of the better rom-coms to come out in the 2010s.

The one issue I had when watching this film initially is that these two never felt like true friends. I was watching it with guy friends with whom I had had long-term platonic relationships, so that was the type of friendship I thought would be explored in the film. I was curious to see a friends-with-benefits story where two people really are just friends at first, so they have to get over the initial awkwardness when crossing that line. However, at no point in this film were they truly in a platonic relationship. They went from their initial meeting through work, to acquaintances-of-sorts, to friends with benefits in a very short amount of time. It was so very obvious that they were flirting from the beginning of the film that there was no question about their ability to develop feelings for each other. Ironically, once they started to have sex, that's when their friendship began to truly flourish and they became best friends, so the situation is kind of flipped on its head.

Truly the best thing about this film is the incredible charisma of the two main leads, Justin Timberlake as Dylan especially. His acting abilities are underrated. But I love the way these two banter back and forth like an old married couple, even and especially when having sex. Because they don't have to be insecure around each other, they can request things just the way they like it without fear of being rude. It's actually a very healthy, communicative sexual relationship. (94/100)

Quote - All of Dylan's Harry Potter references. "You can't deny that going to Hogwarts would be life-changing!"

What to watch for - The sex scenes let's be real. Pretty raunchy for a film. And funny.

If you liked this movie, I recommend Easy A!

Directed by Will Gluck
Distributed by Screen Gems