Movie about casual sex takes itself seriously

As the movie No Strings Attached starts, we are immediately led to ask ourselves if couples are meant to be together forever. As the movie progresses, we find a more ponderous question arises — can sex friends evolve into real lovers who actually care about each other and commit to a relationship?

So the romantic nature bubbles up out of this otherwise flippant movie about the ‘no-strings-attached’ phenomenon of people who seek out intimate encounters without the encumbrances of emotion. It’s a sweet little story wrapped up in the salacious tale of two people whose friendship emerges slowly over time and then jumps right into bed. The falling in love part happens later, but I don’t want to give too much of the predictable details away. Sadly, it’s neither as sexy nor as quirky as I had hoped it would be.

Natalie Portman plays Emma, a student doctor who works 36-hour shifts and doesn’t have much time in her life for a fella. That’s just fine with her because she’s never been too keen on getting attached. Enter Adam (Ashton Kutcher), a production assistant on a TV musical show. He has just learned that his dad Alvin (Kevin Kline) has been dating his ex-girlfriend. He takes the news rather poorly. Distraught over the ick factor, Adam seeks solace by getting drunk and hitting on every woman in his address book. He somehow ends up on Emma’s doorstep and together they agree to be bedmates.

If the storyline stopped there, this would have been a different kind of movie and it probably would have had a ‘Restricted’ rating as well. But this is 14A and writer Elizabeth Meriwether is more than slightly concerned with an intelligent plot where characters face unexpected conflicts and must subsequently make important and weighty decisions that vastly affect the course of their lives.

So Adam and Emma must eventually stop at the crossroads in their lives and choose to either drop the whole relationship or take it to the next level. That’s it. That’s all. Can friends with benefits learn that the real benefit is emotional connection? This might as well have been an episode of Friends and it even comes with some reprehensible stock characters like the token gay guy.

Still, you feel for these two main characters even though they’re both basically eye candy, pretty people who don’t look like they’ve ever actually experienced hardship. They don’t really act like it either but the audience is meant to ignore this part. If you buy into the whole premise, then No Strings Attached starts as a frivolous little sex romp before it grows up with a little drama and romantic tragedy to round it out. Essentially, it mirrors what real relationships are like.

Ivan Reitman is a well-seasoned director of classic comedies like Stripes and Ghostbusters so he knew what he was doing but it’s still hard not to wonder why he paced this one so poorly. He probably should have commanded a few extra takes so the actors could have perfected their comedic timing too. Kutcher is no Bill Murray, that’s for sure. Kevin Kline was sublime and served as a good reminder that he should get more work.

Regardless of the early mess, the third act was fine. I can’t imagine a sequel sprouting out either and for that, I’m thankful.