Review of No Strings Attached (2011) by Caroline A — 23 Jun 2012

A forgettable romantic comedy, that after going to bed, I had actually forgot I had watched the movie in the first place. This is never a good thing, you should be able to remember that you watched a movie the day before. This is simply because this movie is very generic, and as you know how it is going to end from the start, then you just switch your brain off and let what ever is going to happen.. happen. The reason why it isn't 2 and a half, or 2, is becuase of the way it is handled and performed; it had this romantic feel to it, and didn't feel like they were just using the romance as an excuse to force laughs- it felt much more genuine.

The performances are what drive this movie, as Natalie Portman is the only one who is truly believeable in the movie, and you are wondering why she did this after Black Swan, because she is great in this, and you feel completely invested in her character, even though she isn't really the central character as such. This is probably the best I've seen of Ashton Kutcher, as he didn't really do the same schtick that he normally does, he played everything much more subtlely, and he had a much more heartwarming presence. I did think that the two did have some chemistry, especially in the particular dating scene that they have together. in the movie there isn't really any poor acting, but everything just never seemed to try that hard. Apart from also Kevin Kline who was the real funny character, and who actually had that charisma for the part he played. He plays the wealthy father of Kutcher, and he does have some great scenes- one that comes to mind is one of his first, where he has to tell his son that he is sleeping with his ex- he gives everything he is in such energy, that this film really needed.

Ivan Reitman, director of Ghostbusters, does give this movie a good vibe, and I do think that if this movie was made in the wrong hands, it would just have been dreadful. This is because the script isn't that great, and it doesn't feel like much effort has been put into writing it, it felt like the companies script, instead of a writers script- it didn't feel like it had been written for orignality, but just to make money.

It's hard to talk about this movie, because not much really happens when you think about it, because all the movie really is is peple having sex, not staying close, and then the genric love story follows. It is easy to watch these movies, and it is definitely one of these movies that you watch, and would be able to walk in and out of. It isn't something that you have to completely concentrate on becuase there is nothing truly special here, apart from it's premise, and this will sound strange, but I thought there was going to be more sex. what I mean by that is that it never really went into the No Strings Attached part, and just let the love story occur after about 5 minutes of montage, and it just felt a bit disappointing, as it had been advertised as this new orginal rom-com idea, and just ended up being another love story.

This movie can be funny, and I found it to be quite charming due to the mian leads, and the energy given from Ivan Reitman, driving this movie along. If it wasn't for the leads and the direction then movie would probably fall to pieces quite quickly, and would be forgotten completely. Even now it is pretty forgettable.