No Strings Attached

When No Strings Attached  first came out I was looking forward to it and perhaps the anticipation I put into the film made it just a tad bit disappointing. It wasn't horrible, just your average romantic comedy without any standout features. I think one of my main problems with is the people in it. I have not been a big fan of either Ashton Kutcher or Natalie Portman. Although Kutcher was better in this than in his last romantic comedy I saw, Killers with Katherine Heigl he doesn't stand out as a leading man. Portman on the other hand I usually find in weird arty films that everyone goes wild about but don't realize how bad of a film it actually is, case in point Black Swan so it was nice to see her in more of a mainstream film but she seemed misplaced. Or maybe that was just her character - standoffish but there was one glorious moment when she made me cry and I felt she was real.

Their performances weren't helped by an average storyline, friends with benefits laying down rules to not fall in love and of course eventually falling in love. The sort of When Harry Met Sally beginning I felt didn't quite work. It didn't help in building a friendship it was more of chance meetings which eventually led to sex and from their love. There was a little bit of a switch in the gender roles where Kutcher was the vulnerable one who fell first and Portman just wanted sex ala cart. There were bits which were funny - Kutcher waking up naked on a couch and not knowing where he was and Kutcher making Portman a period mix but the comedy was subdued because most of the good stuff appeared in the trailer.

Ultimately that's what it comes down to, the marketing campaign which ruins what otherwise could have been a fun little romantic comedy. When everything is in the trailer there's really almost no point to watch the film. A two hour film can be condensed into a two minute trailer and everything in between acts as filler.