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Left to right: Jake Johnson plays Eli, Chris Bridges plays Wallace, Abby Elliott plays Joy, and Ashton Kutcher plays Adam in NO STRINGS ATTACHED.

“No Strings Attached” begins with an intriguing premise: A guy and a girl agree to have sex wherever they want, whenever they want, without all those pesky emotions getting in the way. This is apparently what the kids these days, with their rock ‘n’ roll music and their video games, refer to as being “friends with benefits.”

What’s intriguing about it is that the girl in the equation, a young doctor played by Natalie Portman, is the one who suggests this arrangement, and the guy, an aspiring TV writer played by Ashton Kutcher, is the one who breaks the rules and falls in love. It’s a reversal of traditional gender roles, and an indication that we might be in for something fresh, daring and different.

This romantic comedy from Ivan Reitman – the first film he’s directed since the less-than-super “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” from 2006 – falls into all the usual traps. Of course, you have to have obstacles in this kind of movie. Something has to keep the characters apart before they can enjoy their ultimate reconciliation.

But the fear of commitment that plagues Portman’s character is enough of a contrivance without all the additional troubles that get piled on. Letting the tension evolve naturally from the insecurities of relatable, well-developed characters would have been preferable, but once Kutcher’s goes all soft and gooey, the movie does, too. Continue reading “Review: ‘No Strings Attached,’ interesting premise goes unexplored”