Adam (Ashton Kutcher) is a struggling television producer. Emma (Natalie Portman) is a medical student with a full schedule. The two meet several times over the course of their lives until discovering that they now both live in the same city in California.
They are attracted to each other,† and the usual romantic comedy solution would be for them to start a romance immediately; however, “No Strings Attached” skips the formalities and plunges them immediately into a friends with benefits relationship, in which they text each other at any time of day or night for the sole purpose of having sex.
Of course, they can’t remain “sex friends” forever, and the most refreshing aspect of the movie is that Adam falls in love first. Too many romantic comedies show the man relentlessly denying his feelings until he realizes that the woman of his dreams has been quietly waiting for him in the wings, hoping he will come to his senses; in “No Strings Attached,” the roles are reversed. Adam falls for Emma from the beginning, but she denies him a real relationship until it is almost too late.
Emma remains somewhat grounded throughout the movie, and her workaholic attitude makes the audience understand that she really does not have time for a genuine relationship.
However, Emma on the whole is a slightly confusing character. When Adam tries to flirt with her, or even blatantly seduce her, her over-the-top sexual aggression is random, unbelievable and not convincing. Conversely, in typical “wounded-girl-who-buries-herself-in-her-work archetype” fashion, she† eventually reveals that she is terrified of relationships. This confession is supposed to make her more human, but overall her character is too stiff to be relatable. Her performance is uncharacteristically one-note. Portman won’t be following up her tremendous performance in “Black Swan” with another Oscar nomination for “No Strings Attached.”
In the other half of the couple, we have Adam, who has to be one of the blandest male leads in rom-com history. He is the lovestruck puppy dog you’ve seen in so many date movies, perpetually cheerful but lacking any real discerning or quirky character traits.
In this movie, there is none of Kutcher’s usual swagger or vulnerability to be seen. Adam is sweet, but he’s not very fun to watch.
The dialogue of the film could have used some serious work. After scoring a hole in one at mini golf, Emma raises her club above her head and screams, “That hole is my bitch!”
This line would have worked for Will Ferrell, maybe, but not for Portman. It comes off as completely forced. I was not expecting Shakespeare-level repartee, but some lines that could be genuinely delivered would have sufficed. There are no segments of cute, funny banter, no witty one-liners. The wordplay is completely lacking.
The biggest triumph of “No Strings Attached” is the supporting cast. Kevin Kline plays Adam’s father, a perpetually immature self-supposed friend to his son; he is ridiculous but endearing. The supporting women in the story are all amusing, including Mindy Kaling of “The Office” and criminally under-the-radar Lake Bell as an overly chatty workaholic producer. Chris Bridges, on the other hand, seems to be involved simply for the sake of having Ludacris in a movie, because the man cannot act.
The movie’s finale, when Adam and Emma inevitably reunite and realize that they genuinely love each other, is charming, but totally predictable.
The same can be said for “No Strings Attached” as a whole. For all its minor successes, the movie still succumbs to formula and banality. As far as recent rom-coms go, this has to be one of the year’s most disappointing.
Lets talk about sex: Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman appear in a promotional shot for their film “No Strings Attached