A romantic comedy starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, about two people attempting to add sex to their friendship, without receiving the usual complications.
Timberlake plays a successful blogger, whose reputation for getting plenty of hits on his website (can anyone smell The Social Network?), leads him to be headhunted by GQ magazine. He soon becomes friends with the head-hunter (Kunis), and the two eventually agree on the aforementioned sex-pact. Both characters bring their own baggage to the table: Timberlake being an emotional recluse, letting no one in on his dark and edgy soul, whilst Kunis is a damaged woman whose sporadic relationship with her runaway mother causes her major issues.
Director Will Gluck attempts to ridicule the Rom-Com genre by placing an overtly cheesy movie within the movie, which is full of the usual clichés and happy-endings. This method, whilst honourable, only serves to remind the viewer just how clichéd the film they’re watching is, as well as make the characters seem farcical (after all, how much sympathy can be conjured for two of the world’s sexiest pin-ups struggling to do each other?).
The best moments come from side-plots, in particular the situation with Timberlake’s aging father (Richard Jenkins), whose humorous reluctance to wear trousers causes more than enough laughs, and then beautifully contrasted with a conversation with his wayward son about love, which carries the most pathos during the whole movie.
Good for a few chuckles, and some unnecessary skin-bearing, but none of the depth that the genre can sometimes offer up, and the worn-out methods of by-the-numbers-productions combined with the array of “clever” references to pop culture (like the credits being on an Ipad), will bore most viewers to tears...or at least mild violence.
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