'No Strings Attached'

'No Strings Attached' (R) (2 stars)

Writer: Elizabeth Meriwether
Director: Ivan Reitman
Starring: Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Lake Bell, Greta Gerwig, Mindy Kaling,
Kevin Kline, Olivia Thrilby, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Talia Balsam, Cary Elwes

"No Strings Attached" has an appealing premise, attractive, hot stars and a killer cast of future greats. What it doesn't have is anything fresh to say that we haven't heard before in the latest, lame rom coms. I don't know why but the romantic comedy seems to be the roughest genre to make a good movie in. There are so many right now you could pick five romantic comedy names out of a hat and you couldn't tell the difference in the plots. This is not a bad movie but with Portman involved I expected smarter. "No Strings Attached" was also directed by comedy great Ivan Reitman and it could have been directed by anyone. There is nothing here that is unique and coming from Reitman that is shocking. The movie tells the story of Emma and Adam played by Portman and Kutcher. They meet cute at camp, then see each other in college and then become friends. Emma is not in the mood for and not good at the long term relationship. She wants a friends with benefits type relationship with Adam and he is okay with that (what man wouldn't). Here is where we get to the disapointing part because we all know Emma will start to want more out of their relationship and things will get serious.

I don't mind a movie that is predictable and has cliches but it has to have some focus and energy. After a while I got tired of this story and the relationship between Emma and Adam. I also didn't like the subplot of the Kevin Kline character, Adam's dad. It is a distraction and horribly written. I was sad also that the film makers were given such a wonderful cast and they blow it. Not only is Kline wasted but there are some funny and beautiful actresses and future stars that are squandered. Greta Gerwig, who will be awarded a Snavely nomination in a few weeks for "Greenberg", continues her great work and she is an actress to watch out for. Also funny is Mindy Kaling from television's "The Office". This is a brilliant and funny actress and I beg for Hollywood to cast her some more. I also think that Lake Bell, who plays Adam's co worker, needs a starring vehicle and fast. I follow this great comic actress with potential on twitter and she is smart and funny. Here she steals the movie from everyone. She reminds me of Sandra Bullock and she is funny, beautiful and charming.

I like Natalie Portman a lot here and she looks as beautiful as ever and I am glad she found something lighter after "Black Swan". I also think Ashton Kutcher is good here and again the poor guy gets such a bad rap. He is what he is, he is not Deniro or even Matt Damon but he is always likable and has great screen presence. He might play the same role over and over but he is good at it. He does need to make smarter choices in movies but this movie is way better than most of his others. The problem with this movie is after a while I got bored and didn't want Emma and Adam to get together seriously in the end. When you don't care about the two main characters you know you are in trouble. On a side note I did appreciate the vulgar (R) rated comedy which is actually the movie's strong attribute. Usually all these cookie cutter romantic comedies are (PG-13) and that is why they are all the same, safe and dull.