Casual sex in romantic comedies is never just that. There is an inevitability to how things will turn out. Love affairs have to end in love. Is the Hays morality code still in effect? Or is it just that a real story about casual sex would be too difficult to write?
Emma and Adam had a camp crush when they were young. Years later they meet again at a party looking like Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. Neither is looking for a committed relationship, but they are ripe sexual specimens and it would be a shame to let that fruit spoil. They have separate reasons for wanting to stay casual. Emma is a medical student and she doesn't want romance to get in the way of her career goals. Adam has just been dumped by his girlfriend Vanessa (Ophelia Lovibond, NOWHERE BOY). Making matters worse is that she dumped him for his father Alvin (Kevin Kline, A FISH CALLED WANDA), a fading movie star.
The story goes through the motions. Scenes of sex in all sorts of places. The awkward scene when they fear they are getting too close. The secret jealousy when the two start seeing other people. The real date (including a trip to play mini-golf). Cold feet. A reunion? We can only hope, right?
Portman gives her character a little bit of a 'tude and enthusiasm for backroom rendezvous. Kutcher seems to be making his character the nice guy who no one sees as really a nice guy. The pair has chemistry. This provides for the crucial element of making us root for them to stay together.
So the romance part works to some degree. The comedy is less successful overall. Portman provides most of the real laughs with her edgy personality. When she suggested they sleep with other people she didn't mean to do it with so many at once. Kutcher works as her straight man for the most part. Awkwardly thrust into the plot close to the end as an alternative to Emma is Adam's co-worker Lucy (Lake Bell, IT'S COMPLICATED). Bell is very funny as the scatterbrained exec assistant who is nervous about actually getting to be with the handsome Adam. I never understood the appeal of Bell before. Now I know. Emma has three roommates played by Mindy Kaling (TV's THE OFFICE), Greta Gerwig (GREENBERG) and Jake M. Johnson (GET HIM TO THE GREEK). They're like a chorus of rim shots clanking in our ears.
There is nothing surprising about this standard romcom. Fans of Kutcher and/or Portman will enjoy it just fine. Portman is so good she makes anything work to some degree. For a fun casual romp, the film is enjoyable, but it certainly doesn't compel your full commitment.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
