Movie Review: No Strings Attached (Film Number 1 In My Goal For 2011 Films)

Well the time has finally come for me to start my goal for 2011 films. For people that don't frequent my blog, my goal for 2011 films is to see just about everything that comes out. I will only be marking the films I did not want to see initially as being part of my goal for 2011 films. I hope this exploration process will broaden my views and further my skills as an aspiring critic. Lastly, these reviews will be not be full-length like my reviews of films I see in theaters, but they will also be longer than the quick reviews I tend to do for films I see on DVD.

No Strings Attached was a film that to me at least,  a film that's trailers screamed generic romantic comedy. Romantic comedies are not a genre that I tend to enjoy, so let's just say I was not particularly enthused to see this film. To my surprise, No Strings Attached was actually pretty enjoyable. It's not really a film the reinvents the wheel anything like that, but it does provide a nice,light piece of entertainment. What really shocked about No Strings Attached was how funny it was. I really wasn't expecting to laugh this much during this film. The cast actually does a pretty solid job. Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman have an undeniable chemistry. It was actually pretty cool seeing Natalie Portman do a film that is such a contrast to Black Swan. It really shows the range Portman has as an actress and I would like to see her in another comic role soon. The greatest strength of No Strings Attached though is the hilarious supporting cast. Kevin Kline especially steals the show as Ashton Kutchers' dad. Seeing Kevin Kline play the role of Kutcher's crazy, drug enthusiast, ex-actor dad was completely hysterical. It's such an off-type role for Kline and he nailed it. I will say No Strings Attached gets sickeningly sappy at the end, which brings it down a bit. Still, No Strings Attached is a surprisingly funny and enjoyable film. It doesn't quite reach the heights of last year's She's Out Of My League and Going The Distance , which I consider to be the two finest romantic comedies in recent memory, but No Strings Attached still does it's job admirably.

3.5/5 Stars