No Strings Attached

I had a few reasons to watch this, but at the top of the list was the fact that Natalie Portman is a bit of a sex kitten without relationship needs. The story follows Adam (Kutcher) and Emma (Portman) as they meet each other again after about a 15 year hiatus. They want different things, but the one commonality is sex. It's human nature. I love the spin on the not so normal romantic comedy. Adam is a romantic, whereas Emma believes relationships will fail. There is no chance of survival. She poses a "friends with benefits" type of situation and as a male he is absolutely fine with that. The funny thing is his confidence in the fact that eventually she will fall for him. He will play by his rules, because playing second fiddle in the band is better than not playing at all. This is very reminiscent of that Seinfeld episode that started the phrase, "we used to date, but now we're just friends." Kevin Kline as Adam's father is super brilliant, but the biggest surprise was the Head doctor at Emma's place of employment is Carey Elwes. You will barely recognize him and though he is on screen a few different times, he only has like one speaking line. I'm still unsure of why he would be cast in that minor role. I mean, he is The Dread Pirate Roberts!! He deserves better. Anyway, I really enjoy the reversal of roles in the terms of the Male/Female psyche when it comes to monogamy and relationships. Adam is ready to go, but Emma is constantly enforcing the rules until it becomes too much for Adam. As with 98% of Rom-Coms, I'm sure you can guess where it will go. I love the underdog story and it was good to see Kutcher get a winning role, especially after Killers. Of course comparing Katherine Heigle to Natalie Portman is like comparing Hamburger to Steak. It's a no win for hamburger. Heigle, you are the hamburger in this analogy. Super sexy, raunchy fun with a great cast all around. Even the smaller players do awesome. Luda-cris is a surprising cast, but as always he is hilarious.


NBM rates No Strings Attached - Awesome.... Now we just have to wait on the Timberlake/Kunis version coming out called Friends with Benefits to see which one is better.