Friends (With Benefits) (2010)

Better Late Then Never

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

They all showed up and the photography itself is good. After that, they lost me.How many more time will we have to see this same boring scenario of friends hooking up and then getting emotionally wrecked? It's just been done like this too many times.The acting is very wooden in spots. The lighting often looks like film school students were on the crew. I watched this because I am Brendan Bradley fan. But even my main man's good efforts could not save this. (I did appreciate the one of him nude. Check out his performance in "Redwoods.." Outstanding.) This thing is nothing special.

Just saw this film at the Gasparilla International Film Festival in Tampa. The movie has stuck with me. Wonderful directing, acting, writing, soundtrack, cinematography (great use of split screens) . . . really everything. It did not take long for me to feel a familiarity with the six friends and actually give a damn about them. There's twist and turns, that are subtle and extreme. Keeping me engaged, as I was never able to predict where an interaction might lead. Friends (With Benefits) is full of life, and understands the magic that pulls friends together; especially, twenty-somethings discovering themselves.

F(WB) is a fun and quirky look at the (somewhat convoluted) personal lives of six twenty-somethings who decide its time to experiment with some "non-traditional" relationships. The writing is hysterical and will remind those of us who are no longer in our twenties of those heady days of hook-ups and romantic misunderstandings. And it doesn't shy away from the raunch. The cast is outstanding. The crisp, witty dialogue (which sounds almost Tarantino-esquire in its funny, gritty realism) is delivered at a clip that grabs and holds the viewer's attention throughout. I didn't notice the time passing while watching this movie. This movie's not for kids, and I mean that in a good way. I'd love to have a beer with Alison.

I recently saw this movie at the Sacramento Film and Music Festival, and thought it was great! The movie centers on a group of six friends in their early 20s, and the various sexual combinations you can get from three women and three men. (One kind of silly distraction: of the six main actors, all of whom were good, one looked like Melissa Joan Hart, one looked like Mark Paul Gosselaar, and one looked like Adrian Grenier.) I went back and forth on whether the touting of the movie as "A novel with moving pictures" and the use of chapter headings with cutesy titles was annoying or helpful, but I think I liked it, because the movie isn't a straightforward romantic comedy. It's composed of bits and pieces-- confessional-type scenes with a therapist ("Dick Weed"), split screens, music montages (the main character is in a band), flashbacks (the requisite senior prom), a fast scrolling of one character's rules for living. Plus plenty of talking about sex and then sex and then dealing with the aftermath. Sure, there were some clichés, but the movie felt surprisingly fresh. Plus, the two leads had great chemistry. One part I didn't feel was as successful was the treatment of parents--only one set of parents makes it on screen, and it's an overbearing father pressuring his son. That relationship didn't seem to have the nuance and creativity of the friends' relationships.For a low-budget movie, it looked and sounded lush (nice music, too).If you have the chance to see Friends (with Benefits), I'd highly recommend it. Just maybe go with someone who you'll be comfortable sharing a raunchy evening with.