Blu-ray Review: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis Elevate ‘Friends With Benefits’

CHICAGO – There’s a spirit and energy in Will Gluck’s “Friends With Benefits” that’s infectious enough to get it over some of its screenwriting humps. It’s a film that features two beautiful people dancing to a Michael Buble flash mob in the middle of Times Square. If those beautiful people were Josh Duhamel and Katherine Heigl, most critics would have audibly retched. But Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are so remarkably charismatic that they make the cliches of “Friends With Benefits,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, much easier to take.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

In fact, it’s just as often the fight against the cliches of the genre that are the screenplay’s biggest weakness. Like Gluck’s “Easy A,” a lot of “FWB” comes off WAY too self-aware, as if it’s winking and nodding at you — “Aren’t we sexy? Aren’t we funny? Aren’t we clever?” Like he did with Emma Stone, Gluck works great with his leads and they make “FWB” a worthwhile rental but it too often falls in to the hipster irony trappings of its set-up. These are people who are always smart and always have the right look and the right thing to say. Too little of it feels genuine, but Timberlake and Kunis are charming enough for it not to matter. Don’t expect “When Harry Met Sally…” and you’ll be satisfied.

Friends With Benefits was released on Blu-ray and DVD on December 2nd, 2011
Photo credit: Sony Pictures

Synopsis:
Dylan (Justin Timberlake) is done with relationships. Jamie (Mila Kunis) decides to stop buying into the Hollywood clichés of true love. When the two become friends they decide to try something new and take advantage of their mutual attraction - but without any emotional attachment. Physical pleasure without the entanglements. Sounds easy enough for two logical adults, right? Not so much. They soon realize romantic comedy stereotypes might exist for a reason.

Special Features:
o Deleted Scenes
o Outtakes
o Commentary with Will Gluck, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis
o On Set with FWB Featurette
o In A Flash: Choreographing A Mob Featurette
o Bonus Benefits: A Pop-Up Trivia Track
o BD Live Enabled
o Ultraviolet Digital Copy Of Feature Film

[14]	By BRIAN TALLERICO [15] Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com [14]