Reviews
The New York Times
Manohla Dargis
“A breezy, speedy and (no kidding) funny comedy with a nicely matched Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis that is about love and sex in the age of social networking, gets some of its juice and tang partly by trash-talking its own genre ... the Scream of romantic comedies. ”
21/07/2011
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The Los Angeles Times
Betsy Sharkey
“As Freud famously said — even romantic comedies need to take their sex seriously or there will be no satisfaction. Or maybe that was Jagger.”
22/07/2011
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Channel 4 Film
Catherine Bray
“This isn't a lazy rom-com, but does stray a little too far in the opposite direction, wandering into the territory of try-hard rom-com, and fulfilling a bunch of cliches while it's at it.”
13/09/2011
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Empire Magazine
Anna Smith
“This goes to great lengths to set itself up as an anti rom-com, a celebration of singledom — and then falls into exactly the same trap as the films it’s been mocking.”
13/09/2011
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The Evening Standard
Charlotte O'Sullivan
“In order to enjoy this film, you need to arrive late and leave early.”
09/09/2011
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The Daily Telegraph
Sukhdev Sandhu
“Gluck’s film is so anxious to distinguish itself from others in the genre...that it goes out of its way to pile on the references to apps, Amazon, Milfs, Hogwarts, mobile-phone contacts, Wii. Is that cool – or is it trying too hard? I’d say the latter. ”
08/09/2011
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Time Out
Cath Clarke
“It really is smarter than your average romcom – which is perhaps as much as you can hope for.”
08/09/2011
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Total Film
Ellen E Jones
“For all the sexting and gratuitous iPad use, Friends With Benefits – like its leads – isn’t as modern as it thinks it is. Gluck’s attempts to critique the clichés of frothy romcoms from within a frothy romcom ring hollow, but it’s a measure of the film’s freshness that he tries it at all.”
23/08/2011
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The Observer
Philip French
“In these days of the comédie à thèse, the writers and producers must present the supposedly sophisticated front-office suits with a compelling thesis that the protagonists will discuss and then test in the film. ”
11/09/2011
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The Scotsman
Alistair Harkness
“The second film this year to rip-off a very famous episode of Seinfeld for the purpose of creating a predictable romcom.”
10/09/2011
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The Independent on Sunday
Nicholas Barber
“Ah, well, there's time for Hollywood to pump out a fourth film on the same subject before the end of the year.”
11/09/2011
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The Times
Kevin Maher
“Some nice one-liners and two smart supporting turns from veterans Patricia Clarkson and Richard Jenkins (as eccentric parents) can’t disguise the fact that Friends with Benefits is a soppy formulaic rom-com pretending to be the antidote to soppy formulaic rom-coms.”
09/09/2011
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The Sunday Times
Edward Porter
“The sex merely adds ribald slapstick and a few glimpses of Timberlake’s bottom.”
11/09/2011
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The Daily Mail
Chris Tookey
“It’s most irritatingly smug in the way they badmouth Hollywood cliches, but then imitate them.”
08/09/2011
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The Financial Times
Antonia Quirke
“Ends up all strings, mostly those belonging to a well-worn Hollywood rom-com violin. ”
08/09/2011
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The Guardian
Peter Bradshaw
“Really: no benefits to watching this.”
08/09/2011
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