No Strings Attached is a Romantic Comedy that tries to take the "Romantic" out of the equation. Otherwise, it's the same old assembly
line-style genre picture that's been made countless times before, playing with no spirit, no direction, and little originality. For a movie about casual
sex, there's surprisingly little of it
on-screen, but so long as everything is implied and spelled out, so what if the visuals are tired and decidedly un-titillating? For a movie that's
made on a premise of doing things backwards, it's incredibly sterile and unwilling to get its hands dirty,
refusing to break convention even if it just plays the regular old RomCom story in reverse, starting with the sex and moving on to the
awkward, fumbling dates and, who knows (the keen viewer!), maybe even arrive at the "L" word by the end. And then there's the humor, such a
subjective thing, humor
about sex even more so, but chances are No Strings Attached will strike out with a dull thud with most viewers. There's just nothing new
here, despite the backwards approach to the formula; the physical and verbal humor is taken from the standard genre playbook and the characters and
their relationships are barely distinguishable from most other movies of this sort. Some will love the comfort of it all, but the brazen repetitiveness of
it will probably tire many out on the genre for years to come.
Let's get physical! Physical! I wanna get physical!
Fifteen years ago, when Color Me Badd was still a favorite group, teenagers Adam and Emma met up during camp and, while Adam's request for a
sexual favor was turned down, the two seemed to spark some kind of flame. Years later, they bumped into one another again, exchanged
pleasantries and
phone numbers, and went their own ways. Fast forward to today. Adam (Ashton Kutcher, What Happens in Vegas) has lost his girlfriend to his father of all people,
and he concocts an idea to call every girl in his phone's contact list until one agrees to sleep with him as kind of a therapeutic lovemaking session
meant to release the tension and anger building up inside of him. His pleading falls on dead ears, until he drunkenly dials up Emma (Natalie
Portman, Leon: The Professional) and wakes up the next morning naked, on her
couch, in front of her three roommates. One thing (a compliment on his manhood) leads to another (sex), and before they can say "love," Adam
and
Emma are rolling in the hay and having the time of their lives. Adam seems a little more eager to take the relationship to the next level, but Emma
is more than happy to leave things on a strictly physical level. They make a pact to keep it that way, seeing one another on a whim and having sex
as often as they want, but agree to split up should one develop feelings for another. Can a relationship based completely on sex last, or will the
physical lead to something a bit more long-term emotionally satisfying than no-strings free love?
There's nothing here that the imagination couldn't cobble together several reels before it happens. No Strings Attached plays it safe and
goes right where it should, hugging the periphery rather than outright exploring the consequences of sex without the benefit of emotional
attachment, but ultimately the picture never really goes anywhere except towards the inevitable conclusion, focused like a laser on everything but
that which really should matter in a movie like this. The film's transparency isn't necessarily a weakness -- there's a certain comfort in
entertainment as meaningless and predictable as this -- but what is a fault is an almost perceptible fear of taking the movie down an unexpected
path that would challenge it to offer more than genre-standard humor, cookie-cutter characters, and phony emotions. Where's the greater
examination of the place of sex in a relationship? Just because the plot takes the characters from C-to-B-to-A doesn't really get to the heart of the
matter. Is it possible that feelings really can come from a relationship based purely on the physical, aside, of course, from whether or not the script
calls for it? Merely making something happen doesn't necessarily mean it can or it should. Anything's possible with the stroke of a
pen; real feelings are far more complex than convenient words written on paper. There's no meaning behind the developments; they just sort of
happen, yes within the context of the plot but without any meaning or purpose behind them, aside from steamrolling towards a happily-ever-after
conclusion. Maybe it's asking too much of a movie like this, but it would be nice to see a genre picture try to spread its wings and go for broke rather
than play it safe in the cozy confines of unimaginative, conventional modern cinema.
Otherwise, No Strings Attached is a well-made picture helmed by the venerable Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters) who still manages to charm even when the movie fails
to elicit much of a thematic undercurrent. Amicable, easy on the eyes, and crafted with attention to detail that allows the movie to flow nicely and
effortlessly enough, No Strings Attached represents a baseline for which other like-minded films would be smart to follow in terms of its raw
technical assemblage and know-how. Better, Ashton Kutcher is excellent in his role, playing the same sort of character he usually portrays in
Romantic Comedies, delivering a somewhat dry, a little shy, but confident, smart, and funny performance that gives the character a relatable and
natural feel that was evident in Valentine's Day, Spread, and now in No Strings Attached. Opposite of him is
Portman, who is dwarfed by the extra-tall Kutcher but who holds her own, anyway, pulling off a believable girl in need of a no-strings relationship but
not really pulling off the whole doctor-in-waiting part, which doesn't really matter much to the plot aside from allowing a side character to utter
something-or-another about seeing male genitalia everyday, of course during a critical moment when Kutcher finds himself as naked as the day he
was born, only his privates covered by a skimpy little towel. There's not an excess of chemistry here, which may be a byproduct of the soulless
script rather than the quality of the performances and the pairing of the actors, but at the end of the day neither Kutcher not Portman are much to
blame for what are limitations outside of their control holding back No Strings Attached from excelling beyond expected genre norms.
No Strings Attached arrives on Blu-ray with a handsome, often striking, 1080p transfer. This is a wonderfully filmic image, sporting a fine layer
of natural grain that accentuates every single detail throughout the film. The image is remarkably sharp and infinitely clear, appearing stable and
well-detailed even way back into the farthest reaches of the frame. Colors are wonderfully vibrant, popping off the screen with regularity, favoring a
warm
shade for sure but still well within an acceptable limit, particularly considering that a warm push is the new norm for this sort of movie. Black levels are
fantastic, yielding strong shadow detail and never appearing even the least bit gray or washed out. The print is meticulously clean -- not a single speckle,
scratch, hair, or other ramdom anomaly is visible -- and the transfer is free of any distracting blocking, banding, noise reduction, or edge enhancement.
A few scenes do go slightly soft, but this is otherwise a nearly perfect transfer in every regard.
No Strings Attached features a plain Jane DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack, but while the sound design is nothing to write home about,
Paramount's Blu-ray audio presentation handles the limited material with great proficiency. This is a dialogue-heavy picture, and the speech delivery is
handled by the center speaker with nary a glitch. Music delivery is effortlessly smooth and energetic, whether instrumental score or various Pop and
Rock tunes; Color Me Badd never sounded so good. The track also features a positive, heavy low end that's not going to rattle the foundation but that
sends a strong rumble through the listening area, usually in conjunction with popular music, with regularity. The surrounds don't get much work;
atmospherics, and light atmospherics at that, are generally carried by the front. There's not much going on here, but this lossless presentation handles
everything asked of it with absolute clarity; one can't ask for much more than that.
No Strings Attached features a standrad array of extras, including an audio commentary and a few featurettes.
Audio Commentary: Director Ivan Reitman delivers a sporadic commentary that's dotted by short stretches of silence. He speaks on
the
story and its tone, character development, the rush of the shoot, the picture's look and score, expanding Ashton Kutcher's horizons in the film,
balancing
the picture's humor and seriousness, and more. This is a fair, if not a bit slow, commentary that fans might want to play.
Sex Friends: Getting Together (1080p, 20:46): A look at Elizabeth Meriwether's screenplay, its evolution into a motion picture, and the
quality of the ensemble cast.
Inside the Sassy Halls of Secret High (1080p, 11:22): Making the High School Musical-inspired scenes and their place in the film.
Modern Love: The Dos and Don'ts (1080p, 8:47): Cast and crew discuss the ins and outs of modern-day relationships.
Deleted Scenes (1080p, 11:04): Eli Hits on Patrice, Wake, "What Good Is A Boy?" Extended, Margarita Machine, Bridal Shop,
and It Was You Extended.
Alternate Storyline Scenes (1080p, 3:44): Printer and I Can't Do This.
Digital Copy: Sampled on an iPhone 4, listeners will experience hollow dialogue but adequate spacing and sound effect delivery. The
video quality is stable with strong detailing and an accurate color palette.
No Strings Attached isn't really a bad movie. It's formula, yes, and it's tiresome, yes, but it is not without some technical merit, a bit of
wit, and a couple of decent-to-good performances. That said, it's so redundant -- even considering its backwards approach to love -- that it can't escape
the
innate limitations of the Romantic Comedy, the picture failing to find any social or emotional resonance and instead just playing out as a string of D.O.A.
jokes and awkward situations that audiences have seen time and again in countless other movies, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse,
but always with
the same general feel. That said, some viewers may like it for just that reason; No Strings Attached is comfortable, predictable, and
mindless. Movies need not
always take a stab at solving problems or unearthing some deeper meaning in the plot; it would just be nice if one of these Romantic Comedies would
one day look for a silver lining rather than simply frolicking around and trying to blend in with the crowd. Paramount's Blu-ray release of
No Strings Attached features a sensational 1080p transfer, a genre-average lossless soundtrack, and a handful of extras. Recommended as a
rental, but fans can buy knowing they're getting a quality product for their money.
The formula for the classic romantic comedy consists of a few scenes that tell a heart felt story of love lost and then won again, intercut with hilarious circumstances that heighten the overall romance. For today's Blu-ray release of No Strings Attached that producers ...
