No Strings Attached

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A guy and a girl (Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman) decide to use each other for sex, without any expectation that it'll go anywhere.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Kline, Cary Elwes, Greta Gerwig, Lake Bell, Olivia Thirlby, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Jake Johnson, Mindy Kaling, Talia Balsam, Ophelia Lovibond, Guy Branum, Ben Lawson, Jennifer Irwin, Adhir Kalyan, Abby Elliott

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. Everybody knows that when you don't have any expectations, that's when things go well. And everybody also knows exactly how this story is going to go well. But what it lacks in conflict, suspense, and surprises, it makes up for in utter cuteness.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: More than a lot of romantic comedies, but less than a lot of R-rated comedies.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: It's all too predictable to get you crying, but when Kevin Kline tears up it's actually one of the better laughs.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Most Authentic Performance by an Actress in a Romantic Comedy. I don't know what it is that Natalie Portman is doing, but it just works.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Ashton Kutcher finally found a leading lady who's prettier than he is! Also, beautiful guest performance by Lake Bell. What she does in this movie isn't as obvious as she makes it look.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: I once had a directing teacher who said that 90% of a director's work is having good taste in material. And that's what Ivan Reitman does best. I know this because I've seen an s-load of his movies, and I can't remember a single shot from any of them. Okay, that's a lie, there is one shot I remember-- but who could forget the slow pan, in Twins, over to Arnold Schwarzenegger's starry-eyed grin, after the first time he has sex?

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The premise holds together by a string because Ashton Kutcher is clearly in love with Natalie Portman from the first, second, third, and forth time they meet. So when they say things like, "Let's keep doing this until one of us starts to have feelings for the other," it rings completely false because he already has feelings for her. Meanwhile, her excuses for not getting more involved with him are convoluted, contradictory, and mostly very thin.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: The line from the trailer where he says he can't date her because she's his oldest friend is not in the movie. This is not a friends with benefits situation, because they were never friends first. I kept waiting for the part where they would be friends, and it never came. This lacking element caused me great confusion about why they weren't giving a relationship a shot, since they were already in one.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: No Strings Attached Trailer

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