Romantic comedies are always a tough pill to swallow. Plagued with vague story lines, all too cheesy jokes, and desperate slapstick humor, today’s fair share of female-focused “rom-coms” makes movies like “Glitter” look good.
However, director Ivan Reitman’s (“Ghostbusters”) new film, “No Strings Attached,” looks to defy the conventional clichés of these types of films and ask the audience one question: can two young, attractive people have a physical relationship without being emotionally attached?
Fresh off “Black Swan,” Natalie Portman plays the work-obsessed Emma, a character who is too involved in her career to fall in love. At one point, she even claims to be “allergic to relationships.” Emma is the classic female lead: a headstrong character that finds herself above the influence of love.
Playing Emma’s opposite, as well as her suitor, is Ashton Kutcher. Kutcher is Emma’s childhood sweetheart and new-found fling, Adam.
While Emma is an over-obsessing workaholic, Adam refuses to care about anything. Prone to being labeled “the nice guy” in relationships, Adam adopts a new outlook regarding love. Fed up with the complexities of love, Adam decides that from now on, he will only hook up.
Considering that both of the characters once knew each other and only want one thing out of their relationship together, Adam and Emma are perfect for each other.
“Early in a relationship, people often feel the need to define it, and sometimes want to put it in a box,” said Kutcher in a press release. “Adam and Emma go from friends to suddenly having sex – at that point, some might feel the need to reach out with a gift of sorts, so my character brings her a balloon.”
But, it isn’t just a balloon—Kutcher’s character decides it would be a good idea to show up at the hospital where Emma works toting a bright red balloon that reads ‘CONGRATS!’
Emma, who is not too thrilled about receiving a balloon the night after sex, decides that her and Adam’s relationship needs to be defined.
Their new rules label the two partners as “sex friends”—nothing more, nothing less.
Much of the film’s credit is given to the brilliant screenplay written by Elizabeth Meriwether.
Meriwether, an up and coming playwright in New York and a twenty-something herself, felt that a romantic comedy needed to be written that focused on contemporary dating and the complexities that go along with it.
“The chronology of a lot of people’s relationships starts with hooking up, then happens a couple more times, so you have a discussion to determine whether or not it’s something real, and that’s the way it goes,” said Meriwether.
Ivan had just come off working with his son, Jason Reitman, while producing last year’s hit “Up in the Air.” Ivan immediately fell for Meriwether’s subtle, yet hilarious script.
“I got inspired. I loved the work Jason did as the writer/director of “Up in the Air,” and it reminded me how much I love telling stories—creating movies with good ideas, ones that are all about character and performance,” Ivan said. “I had mostly been doing bigger films with lots of special effects, and basically, I got jealous.”
Find out why Adam and Emma’s relationship becomes hard to handle when “No Strings Attached” is released nationwide this Friday.
