No Strings Attached
Why am I having a hard time remembering if Ivan Reitman, the ’80s comedy hitmaker of films like “Ghostbusters,” “Twins,” and “Dave,” has made a movie since his 2001 film, “Evolution”? The bottom line: It’s been a while since Reitman has been on his game as a comedy filmmaker. His randy rom-com, “No Strings Attached,” is not quite on the level of those earlier successes, but with Natalie Portman and (gasp!) Ashton Kutcher as the friends (with benefits) in question, it is difficult to not like the film, even if it does not always hit the funny-bone.
Portman stars as Emma, a young doctor who, over the past 15 years, has crossed paths a few times with Adam (Kutcher), who has followed his father (Kevin Kline) into the realm of television, working as a writer for a “High School Musical”/”Glee” type of show. The two eventually become friends, but after a night of drunk-dialing women leads Adam to wind up naked in Emma’s apartment, they add those two little words every guy would love to hear with from a woman: “with benefits.” Of course, this being a romantic comedy, no-strings-attached sex leads to emotional complications that are familiar to anyone who has ever watched “When Harry Met Sally…” or any other like-minded rom-com of the past 20 years.
Portman produced this film, and even if she picked a limp-noodle script by Elizabeth Meriwether as a vehicle for herself, she lined up a well-seasoned director in Reitman to find the sly fun in the premise and a smart supporting cast to help get laughs out of the material…sometimes out of thin air. Kline finds comic gold as a father who ends up sleeping with his son’s ex; Lake Bell is hilarious and sexy as a co-worker who cozies up to Adam; and Cary Elwes has a thankless but memorable role as a doctor toward whom Emma acts particularly odd. Still, it’s Portman and Kutcher who end up making this more than just a trip to Chick Flick Hell. Who knew Padme and Kelso would make such an appealing pair?
