It’s an age-old dynamic; females and males become friends, get horny for each other but don’t really want the attachment of a relationship so they become friends with perks. Special friends, if you will. The only problem is usually the “just friends” thing doesn’t hold up for long. Eventually one of the two starts feeling more than they intended and the whole thing goes up in flames.
The movie “Friends With Benefits” doesn’t stray far from that. The movie begins with each actor, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, dealing with issues from their significant others. Timberlake’s character Dylan Harper is rushing to get to his girlfriend at a John Mayer concert in Los Angeles and Jamie (Kunis) is waiting for her boyfriend outside of a movie theater in New York. But you know there’s a catch, right? The significant others both came to break up with Dylan and Jamie.
Jamie’s boyfriend tells her that her problem is she wants to be swept off her feet but she’s more interested in being swept off her feet than the person who’s doing the sweeping. Dylan’s girlfriend tells him that he’s emotionally unavailable. Each of these traits are true and play a huge role in the rest of the movie.
Dylan just happens to be Jamie’s latest recruit at her job agency. GQ Magazine is looking for an art director and Jamie feels Dylan’s work is incredible. She picks him up from the airport (insert quirky, humorous scenes here) and takes him to his interview. GQ offers Dylan the position which expires the same night, but since he’s not sold right away Jamie takes him on a tour of the city to convince him. This is where it all begins.
Dylan takes the job and becomes closer to Jamie because she’s the only friend he has in New York. They hang out more and more until one night they’re watching a romantic comedy together. This gets them talking about love and relationships, which leads to the topic of sex. Each agrees that sex comes with too many complications and emotions, which shouldn’t be necessary. As Dylan says, “it should be like two people playing tennis.”
You can probably guess what comes next.
Jamie and Dylan swear on Jamie’s iPad Bible app that they’ll have sex but stay friends and nothing more; no attachment, no emotions. From the first scene of them stripping down it’s evident that they fit together. Dylan says he likes to keep his socks on because of intimacy issues and it works perfectly for Jamie; feet gross her out because of daddy issues.
A few days later at work Jamie and Dylan agree that it was a mistake having sex and they should forget it happened. But not two minutes later they’re at it again; not only having sex but sharing secrets and spending time together. But Jamie wants to start dating again, ending the sexual escapades. They go to the park and while Dylan doesn’t have any luck, Jamie finds a single, handsome children’s oncologist named Parker and they schedule a date.
Jamie has several dates with Parker and when they get to her five-date rule, they consummate their relationship. The next morning, however, Parker slips out of Jamie’s apartment while she’s out getting coffee and almost escapes until she catches him. He admits he doesn’t think he can be her “prince charming” and she tells him off. Dylan eventually gets a date himself, meeting a weird woman after a night out with his co-workers.
By this point it’s becoming more and more evident that Dylan and Jamie were meant to be. Dylan has an art canvas made for her and even invites her to L.A. to meet his family. There Jamie and Dylan connect further and share a night of intimacy they hadn’t shared before.
But every movie has its turning points and this is it in “Friends With Benefits.” Dylan is talking with his sister and he thinks they’re alone but Jamie is in the room hidden in Dylan’s nephew’s magic case. She overhears him talking trash about her and immediately catches a flight back to New York. Dylan flies back later and meets her on a secret roof top she showed him when they first met. From here the mini-feud begins; Dylan begins looking into other jobs, ruining Jamie’s chance of a commission from her job and the back and forth arguing goes on pretty much until the end.
Dylan’s father flies into town and Dylan picks him up from the airport. Dylan’s father, having Alzheimer’s, has a moment of confusion with a woman in the airport. He mistakes her for a woman he knew when he was younger. He was in love with her but had too much pride to tell her how he felt. Something snaps in Dylan’s mind during his heart to heart with his father and he arranges a surprise for Jamie in Grand Central Station. He confesses his love for her and she gets her big kiss. Then they date and the rest, as they say, is history.
It was obvious early on that Dylan was sweeping her off her feet the entire time. The two things that got in the way were the things their exes said to them in the beginning; Jamie was more concerned with being swept off her feet (flowers, horse and carriage; the right acts) than the one doing the sweeping and Dylan wasn’t “emotionally available” because of his problems with intimacy and his pride.
Luckily for these two, they worked through their issues and saw what they wanted was right there all along.
It’s also lucky for Timberlake and Kunis that this movie works. It’s got enough raunchiness to satisfy dirty minds but not so much that you’re grossed out. Who knew that Mila Kunis was so funny! Justin Timberlake’s been involved in quirky stuff before Most of the movie has a purpose; just about every scene has a direct relation to the overall message. Fairy tale love is hard to find, but not impossible if you listen to your heart and know where to look.
Don’t be wary about paying to see this on Pay Per View or buying the DVD; if you’ve got even a little interest it’ll be worth the money. But girls might still wanna think twice before dragging their boyfriend with them.
The LG Blog 