‘No Strings Attached’ (2011) Review

No Strings Attached Synopsis: A guy and girl try to keep their relationship strictly physical, but it’s not long before they learn that they want something more.

Emma and Adam meet one another at camp when they’re teenagers but lose touch again until they run into each other at a college fraternity party. The attraction between the two is undeniable, but Emma has difficulty with relationships. Time passes until they find one another again and finally give in to their desires.

Emma is on track to becoming a doctor, but with her busy schedule, she doesn’t have time for a boyfriend. But she’s also unwilling to give up great sex, so she suggests to Adam that they sleep together without any strings attached. If one of them happens to catch feelings, they’ll stop things. Adam agrees, and things go according to plan… for a little while, at least.

I remember this movie only as much as I remembered Friends With Benefits, seeing how they both came out in the same year. Honestly, they’re essentially the same plot, though I think No Strings Attached takes itself a little bit more seriously than its counterpart.

After watching this movie again many years later, I found I enjoyed it more than I remember. It’s a recycled plot that offers nothing new to the genre, but for the commitment-phobe being the female lead rather than the male love interest, it has some pretty solid chemistry between Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman. I was also thrilled to see supporting players like Greta Gerwig, Jake Johnson, and Lake Bell, not to mention the incredible addition of Kevin Kline as Kutcher’s father, a famous sitcom actor who takes up with his son’s girlfriend after she dumps him.

Cary Elwes pops up occasionally as a doctor, whom Emma has a crush on, but his role is so small that I wonder what on earth he is doing in the movie. I imagine he had a more prominent role that ended up on the cutting-room floor.  But if you’re going to cast Cary Elwes in anything, you need to give me a lot of Cary Elwes. Please.

The script from Elizabeth Meriweather (New Girl) does a fine job balancing the rom and the com, and yes, this movie does have quite a few laugh-out-loud moments. Portman may not be the finest comedic actress, but she handles going toe-to-toe with her funnier counterparts quite well. However, she does completely nail Emma’s softer, more vulnerable side. Kutcher turns in a decent performance as Adam, though his best friends, played by Jake Johnson and Ludacris, get most of the laughs. He’s still handsome and open enough to pull off the leading man role, and I enjoy watching him in these kinds of films.

I think No Strings Attached benefited greatly from Ivan Reitman’s dependable direction. Given that it’s not exactly unpredictable fare, anyone watching a romantic comedy like this one is aware that it’s not the destination; it’s the journey, and without the right director, the journey could have been a sluggish trek to an unsatisfying ending.

I found No Strings Attached romantic and funny enough, though once again, I found myself a tiny bit more invested in the romance of the side characters (Gerwig and Johnson) and wanting to see even more of Lake Bell, whose socially awkward character Lucy deserved a spin-off rom-com of her own.

But No Strings Attached is worth watching. It may inspire you to create a Period Mix for yourself if nothing else.