No Strings Attached is definitely humorous but it also falls under the same "play by the rules" model and thus doesn't stand out from the crowd. Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher work well together and their interactions are fine and everything. However, they never seem different from other couples in romantic comedies. The supporting cast is actually what helps the film reach their comedic heights (like Greta Gerwig, Lake Bell, Olivia Thirlby, Ludacris, and Jack Johnson). The whole cast though definitely take a at times poorly written script and make the lines enjoyable. It's just if it didn't stay so close to the book it could of been really, really good. For what it ended up being, it was a fine pass of 1:45. Oh and please don't push Mindy Kaling in our faces. She is not funny in The Office and not funny here. **1/2

I'm excited to see this. Obviously it's not going to be anything great but it looks adorable and I love Natalie Portman and I heard Ashton Kutcher is naked, yes?

Yes, actually you see more of him than Portman. I'll leave it at that.

He can't go frontal can he? Nah, that probably just means Portman reveals nothing in the movie. I'm excited though, he's always been a favorite of mine.

Yeahhhhhhhhhhh

So want to see, but I will not pay for it in theaters. DVD it is.

Ok Cutesy Movie but that was good.

And only Natalie Portman, bras and panties with some suggestive scenes...but to her not showing more. She was the Executive Producer of the Movie.

Anyway, glad she did OK and didn't ruin her Oscar year with a bad performance or movie.

PS. Cary Elwes says about 10 words in 3 scenes and gets 4th top billing. WTF? But I guess someone really wanted him in the movie.

Much more sharply written than many romantic comedies, No Strings Attached is a bit too predictable to really enter an upper echelon but is still very cute and above average. Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher have a surprising amount of chemistry. Portman does really solid work here, and her Emma is a much more three-dimensional protagonist than the women who typically inhabit these films. Likewise, Kutcher has probably never been more appealing, and there are a number of good supporting turns from the actors here. This was a good time. B+

BJs Grade:

B+

very enjoyable film, Portman and Kutcher worked very well together and the supporting cast was epic. Recommended to anyone looking for a good time.

I can't remember the last time Ivan Reitman made a solidly good comedy. Dave was really eighteen years ago? Yikes. This isn't a return to form by any means, but for what it is, it works. Formulaic, but pretty funny and much funnier than I was expecting. Jmovies is right on the money considering the supporting cast, especially Lake Bell. I wouldn't have minded an ending in which she wound up with Kutcher.

*** (B)

As a note, I've never found Portman to be particularly as sexy as people claim she is, but with how she looked on the Globes and her in No Strings Attached, I think I might be coming around. Going in I thought someone like Anne Hathaway might have been a better choice because she's proven to pick characters who are confident sexually and in the process have made her sexy, but Portman does a fine job here. The reason why I bring it up though is because if you don't find her to be sexually confident, the movie goes nowhere. The movie kind of lives or dies on her character, but she pulled it off.

I second the notion that Natalie Portman has looked super, super hot lately, especially in this.

And overall, the movie is more funny than I expected. Predictable, but still really great.

What a nice movie!


...now I suppose one might take that as a compliment or a criticism, but I for one dug the innocent vibe that underlaid this rather frank comedy.

Ashton Kutcher is rarely good - - so far just in Dude, Where's My Car? and Butterfly Effect - - but now joined by some fine work here in No Strings Attached - - he was good! Of course, he went full metro, so he didn't have to act too hard.

Natalie Portman was great as the galactically distant Emma - - a hot pulsar you can orbit, but not inhabit. No surprise there - - she's always great. Our new Meryl Streep.

The bounty of supporting characters brought home the frank. Their ribald banter laid down a bass line of laughs.

And flip it if the whole thing weren't pretty darn romantic! No Strings Attached wasn't exactly a miracle, but by the end it brought me to my feet with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah...


7 out of 5.

Personally I think of Natalie Portman more as pretty and attractive than sexy and hot.

Think there is a difference.

Also it looks like Natalie Portman can do the sex scenes from Strings and Black Swan.

PS. As I don't think anyone mentioned the father and the stupid/slutty girl friend. Pretty Funny.

What a nice little movie! Natalie Portman was adorable as hell in this and Ashton Kutcher was surprisingly good. While it was obviously predictable, it was hilarious and very sweet. Greta Gerwig was also awesome in her supporting role. I don't have much to say about it but I loved it and definitely recommend it.

8/10

Very cute and funny. Greta Gerwig was awesome in her supporting role. So funny. She steals most of her scenes. Also dug Lake Bell in this. Most of the supporting players were great.

B+

Highly infectious! B+

I like this movie. VERY funny. Natalie Portman was HILARIOUS and easily the best part of the movie.

One thing that left me wanting more... it wanted to get emotional towards the end... but since it was so funny throughout, it never really got to the emotional level for me. Oh well!

This was a weird little film. It carries all the conventional components (the crude guy friends, the barely existant girlfriends, the inappropriate parents which exist just for laughs, the jobs that just provide a little context) but there was something off. The dialogue and cutting of scenes were really bizarre. Conversations don't just propose standard problems, solve them, insert a few jokes, and move on. There are odd leftover bits of dialogue that are ignored and never resolved, and the flow of discussion just doesn't seem normal. I am not sure wheather this was intentional deviation from the standard scripts of rom-com or merely incompetence at repeating them, but I rather liked it.

This odd dynamic is not exactly realism but it's at least a break from conventionality, although the storyline is not. The characters are never really established and the whole thing feels brief and inconsequential, but it was pleasant enough to watch occur. There are several genuine laughs amongst a few phoned in, and Kevin Cline as a druggie dad is just great. It was far from a great movie, but you could do much worse.

This vs. Love and Other Drugs

What should I see with my best friend whom I secretly fell for?

This. It's more lighthearted and less tonally confusing.

Very enjoyable movie. Portman is about as sweet as she can be and Kutcher is solid too. I thought Kevin Kline's storyline was unnecessary and took away from the main storyline. One of the better rom-coms I've seen lately. B+

No Strings Attached

Better than Friends with Benefits. This film actually risks having its own personality. It's quirky, with an interesting script, and funny performances, not some run-of-the-mill, in your face, Yankee rom-com like Friends with Benefits is. Natalie Portman is serenely normal and Ashton Kutcher is romantically mature. It's not Oscar material. It's just Ivan Reitman at his older best.

Actually, this is pretty generic too when viewing it from afar.

B