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Natalie Portman has had a remarkably diverse career. Even before her 30th birthday, she’s already done comedy, drama, sci-fi, and action. She’s been a love interest, a warrior, and Luke Skywalker’s mother. But, despite her well-rounded career, I doubt that anyone would have expected Portman to follow her Oscar-winning performance in Black Swan by starring in a flaky chick flick with Aston Kutcher (or that she’d follow that with the stoner comedy Your Highness)—but that’s exactly what she did.
In No Strings Attached, Portman plays Emma, a young doctor whose demanding work schedule leaves little time for a social life. Enter Adam (Kutcher), an old childhood acquaintance who’s working as an assistant on a teen musical TV series. Devastated by the discovery that his aging actor dad (Kevin Kline) is sleeping with his ex (Ophelia Lovibond), Adam sets out in search of a meaningless fling—and he ends up at Emma’s door.
The next morning, Emma proposes an arrangement: they’ll keep their relationship purely physical. If one of them starts to feel something more, they’ll end it. It seems like a great deal—until jealousy and insecurity start to get in the way.
No Strings Attached promises to take the same old fluffy romantic comedy and kick it up just a notch. Throw in a credible star like Natalie Portman—and the guy who directed Ghostbusters—and it’s got to be pretty good, right? Well, not exactly.
Forget about the predictable rom-com formula; that’s to be expected. Even the rambling, unfocused storyline (which takes way too long to get to the point) is tolerable. The film’s greatest problem is its unlikable—and unnatural—characters. Some—like Kline’s aging playboy Alvin and Lake Bell’s painfully awkward Lucy—are simply annoying. But others just don’t ring true. Portman’s character, especially, seems completely unnatural: a super-smart and super-serious doctor who’s admittedly “bad with relationships” racing off to have meaningless (and often completely irresponsible) sex whenever she’s got a minute to spare. Meanwhile, Portman may be trying to let loose a little with her role, but it just feels wrong to hear her delivering ridiculous lines like “That hole is my bitch!” (during a mini golf celebration). Cameron Diaz? Maybe. But Natalie Portman? No way.
So, with his Oscar-winning co-stars in awkward (and just plain irritating) roles, Kutcher manages to stand out as the most lovable member of the cast. Adam may be clueless and corny, but the lovesick aspiring writer is still strangely adorable. So is Greta Gerwig, who gives her most natural performance yet as Emma’s best friend, Patrice.
While Kutcher and Gerwig may include No Strings Attached in their demo reels, though, it’s one movie that the rest of the cast would probably like to forget. And the unnatural writing and awkward characters will leave viewers with their share of morning-after regrets, too.
Blu-ray Review:
Sometimes, a film’s special features make you feel a little better about the overall experience. They emphasize the movie’s best parts and make you understand the story, the characters, or even the director more. Sometimes, though, they emphasize everything that you liked least about the movie. And, unfortunately, that’s the case with the No Strings Attached Blu-ray.
It seems that the film was awkward and uncomfortable because the cast and crew members are awkward and uncomfortable. From giggly writer Liz Meriwether to goofy Lake Bell and hyperactive teen actress/singer/dancer Mollee Gray, they make the drawn-out special features difficult to watch.
If you want to give it a shot anyway, though, extras include a 20-minute making-of feature, a feature about Adam’s Glee-like TV show, and a short feature about modern relationships—as well as six deleted/extended scenes, an alternate storyline involving Adam’s budding relationship with Lucy, and a rather dry director commentary.
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