07.21.2011 | By Jack Rico |
*Updated 2026
In 2026, with superhero fatigue now part of the conversation, Captain America: The First Avenger is easier to revisit as a clean origin story before Marvel got heavier.
07.21.2011 | By Ted Faraone |
It is sometimes amazing to see a well-worn Hollywood formula repackaged for the umpteenth time and still work. Such is the case of “Friends with Benefits,†a star vehicle for Justin Timberlake (art director Dylan) and Mila Kunis (headhunter Jamie). Before the opening titles there are two breakups: Dylan’s girl in LA dumps him and Jamie’s boyfriend in New York dumps her — just as both are dragging their tardy guys to their favorite chick flicks. Via a cute bit of editing (kudos to Tia Nolan) auds are led to believe briefly that it is one breakup — Dylan and Jamie — until the bi-coastal synchronicity sets in. Both battle scarred veterans retire from the field. No more romance for them.
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Jamie lures Dylan to New York for a job interview to be the new art director of GQ Magazine. He aces the interview. The pair become fast friends — as in we like each other but there’s no sex. That changes when Jamie utters, “God! I want sex.â€Â Can two great friends have a sexual relationship that is “no relationship, no emotions, just sex, whatever happens?â€Â Auds will quickly figure out the answer. As Stephen Sondheim wrote in one of the lyrics to A Little Night Music, eventually the nets descend. The questions for “Friends with Benefits†are “How long will the arrangement last?â€, “When will the nets descend?â€, and “What happens after the inevitable breakup?â€
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While skein is busy answering said questions, pic reveals itself as a valentine to New York City, which is as much a character as any of the cast. In the opening reel Jamie takes Dylan on a tour of New York to sell him on leaving LA. It’s full “fish out of water†Angelino in Gotham jokes, but it works — both cinematically and as a plot device. Dylan is sold. Good thing, too, because by the time they get to the “just sex†part, pic is on to its second reel.
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It’s nice to see Timberlake in a non-smarmy role, which he handles convincingly, but it is Kunis who steals her scenes as the tough, fast-talking, wisecracker. Supporting roles are notable. Patricia Clarkson does a star-turn as Jamie’s goofy, ex-hippie mom wherein there is a running gag about the nationality of Jamie’s dad. Woody Harrelson has the unenviable task of being comic relief in a comedy. His over-the-top gay sports editor sports more cliché gay jock jokes than your critic imagined exist. To his credit, he plays the role big, bold, and farcical — think of Zach Galifianakis minus the annoying aspects. Richard Jenkins as Dylan’s dad suffering the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease and Jenna Elfman as sister Annie anchor pic’s serious scenes. Jenkins comes across as sympathetic rather than pathetic. Elfman has the least to work with but does well with what scribes Harley Peyton, David A. Newman, Keith Merryman and Will Gluck (who also directed) give her as the primary caregiver for dad and her son, a ten-year-old tuxedoed magician (Nolan Gould) whose trick failures are another one of pic’s myriad running gags. In this regard “Friends with Benefits†bares careful scrutiny. There are no loose ends. Everything that happens in the picture happens for a reason and will probably happen again to move the plot along — or at least leave auds saying, “I knew that was coming.â€Â Sharp-eyed viewers will notice Paul Mazursky’s 1969 sexual revolution comedy, “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice,†unspooling on a TV in the background of one scene. It is one of pic’s many inside-film references.
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Plot hinges on the overheard conversation, a truly shopworn device, but it gets the point across. Jamie, unseen by Annie and Dylan, listens to Dylan argue with his sister that there is no relationship between Jamie and him; that the girl is damaged goods. This leads to the inevitable breakup which takes place on Independence Day weekend at Dylan’s oceanfront boyhood home in what appears to be Santa Barbara.
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Rest of pic’s 109 minutes are spent keeping auds guessing whether it will end as a romantic comedy (“Before Sunsetâ€) or a weeper (“The Break-Upâ€). Dénouement’s impetus comes from two characters both unlikely given their backgrounds and at the same time very likely given Hollywood tradition: The parents. Jenkins’ Mr. Harper in a lucid moment, punctuated by a perfectly timed gag, clarifies Dylan’s thinking. Goofy, unreliable Lorna (Clarkson) does likewise for Jamie. This plot trick has been done to death, but here it enjoys a resurrection.
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“Friends with Benefits†is rated R. For once the R rating is right. There’s plenty of language and some pretty hot sex. Children won’t understand it. However, for adults it offers good lensing, adequate sound, and about a laugh a minute — even in the serious scenes.
07.13.2011 | By Jack Rico |
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is the final installment of the most profitable film series in history. It is not only the preeminent work of the saga, but it is also one of the top ten films I have seen so far in 2011. The film is so well crafted I had to see it twice. Read More
07.6.2011 | By Jack Rico |
*Updated April 2026
Director Seth Gordon makes a futile attempt to create a modern version of The Three Stooges with Horrible Bosses. It is one of the most vexing and exasperating R-rated comedies I have seen all year. It opens with the great promise of a clever film, a great cast, and an enthralling premise. Read More
05.31.2011 | By Mario Torres |
I like comic book movies. I don’t read comics, but as far as movies go, there is always something entertaining about one character, or a group, going through or adapting to an unimaginable change.
X Men: First Class is an excellent comic book movie, for those expecting nothing more. Great action sequences, interesting character chemistry and hints of humor make the Professor X’s clan (or shall I say Magneto?) a very enjoyable 130 minutes.
Let me not give you the wrong impression, this is Magneto’s movie… The rest of the characters live in the world, but in a way, they seem to revolve around him, whether right from the beginning or towards the end.
As we start the movie, it feels like we are watching two movies intersecting one another, and it works beautifully thanks to director Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass, Layer Cake), who like Bryan Singer (the original director for this and now producer), has developed a very keen sense of showing parallel stories that later convene.Â
It’s Poland, 1944, and the scene is practically the same as the one we saw in the first X-Men movie. Kid gets separated from his parents, bends fence, gets knocked down… but, what happens next? What follows clearly states what will happen during the rest of the movie, along with witnessing how Erik/Magneto’s evil psyche is born right in front of us because of Kevin Bacon’s character Sebastian Shaw.
Kevin Bacon… he really does his best to be an evil villain, but I liked him as a villain more in the movie “Superâ€.
On the other side of the world, Westchester, New York, we simply see how Charles Xavier, as a young man, discovers an intruder that looks like his mom, but it’s really Raven/Mystique. And… yes, that is his introduction and Raven’s as well. How Raven ended up in his kitchen, in the middle of the night, in that same house that is in the middle of a forest, is beyond me, but let’s move along.
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James McAvoy is charming as Charles Xavier. In the following scenes about 20 years later, his innocence, which will eventually be a character trait that will separate him from Magneto, is clearly established as he tries to chat up a girl at a bar in Oxford using his powers. While this happens, Erik, with a very dark, but bland portrayal by Michael Fassbender, is trying to hunt down the person that created and destroyed him, Sebastian Shaw. This takes him to France and Argentina, where he finds out more information about his nemesis.
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As if this were not enough, Rose Byrne (who seems to be in every movie lately), is a “sexy†CIA agent tracking down Sebastian Shaw, and while she gets close, she witnesses Shaw and his crew of mutants displaying her powers. Where did Sebastian find this crew of mutants? Again, we don’t know. He seems to have a pretty close relationship with them, but let’s move along.
After seeing this, Byrne’s character, Agent MacTaggert, literally says she needs an “expert in genetic mutationâ€, and who you gonna call? Charles Xavier. She follows Charles to the same bar, and he uses the same line he used previously to pick up MacTaggert. It doesn’t work, she goes straight to business. Charles willingly joins her team, along with Raven. In the CIA’s operation to catch Sebastian Shaw with the mutants help, they meet Erik as he tries to stop Shaw as well, but fails and Charles saves his life.
The movie takes a comedic turn after their meeting as they formalize the mutant team and Oliver Platt, in a very minor character, helps them settle into a research base. The recruiting sequence is a highlight and Wolverine makes an expected cameo with what is probably the best line of the movie, which I can’t say here (he was being rude).
The last unexpected turn of the movie is Sebastian Shaw’s visit to the research base where the young mutants are, which feels like a bit too long of an action sequence. I found interesting that he does not want to kidnap them, or tries to hurt them, he simply gives them a choice to choose sides, much like Magneto’s character. Some go, some stay, but since it is Magneto’s movie, these choices at the end seem irrelevant.
From here on forward, it is a simple evil vs. good training and fight sequences while establishing the crucial role Charles Xavier has in developing and caring for his “studentsâ€.
The relationship between Erik and Charles takes a hit at the very end, and while Charles tries to maintain the peace, it is too late for Erik to go back and not hate the humans (although his nemesis, Shaw, was a mutant too… but let’s move along), so they split sides.
Matthew Vaughn is a good storyteller, and while the second half of the movie lacks the same interest than the beginning, he knows how to handle it. The movie is consistent, and if I were a comic book fan, I am pretty sure I would have liked it even more. Two things before I leave you: look out for a Rebecca Romjin cameo, it’s quick, but amusing; and there is no additional scene after the credits roll, so you get to leave to the bathroom early. I only tell you because I wish I had known…
