Friends With Benefits (Film)
Encyclopedia
Friends with Benefits is a 2011 American romantic comedy film
directed by Will Gluck
and starring Mila Kunis
and Justin Timberlake
. The film features an ensemble cast
which includes Woody Harrelson
, Bryan Greenberg
, Jenna Elfman
, Richard Jenkins
, Emma Stone and Patricia Clarkson
. The plot revolves around Jamie (Kunis) and Dylan (Timberlake), who meet in New York City and naively believe adding sex to their relationship will not lead to complications. Over time they begin to develop deep mutual feelings for each other, only to deny it each time they are together.
Principal casting for the film took place over a three-month period from April to July 2010. Gluck reworked the original script and plot shortly after casting Timberlake and Kunis. Filming began in New York City
on July 20, 2010, and concluded in Los Angeles
in September 2010. The film was distributed by Screen Gems
and was released in North America on July 22, 2011. Friends with Benefits was generally well received by film critics, and became a commercial success at the box office grossing over $149.5 million worldwide.
) is an Executive Recruiter for a leading job agency in New York City and Dylan (Justin Timberlake
) works as an art director for a small internet company in Los Angeles. Jamie has the task of trying to recruit Dylan to interview for a job with GQ magazine and begin working in New York City. Dylan comes to New York and after interviewing for the position learns from Jamie that he has been given an offer to work for GQ. At first Dylan is hesitant to accept and move from Los Angeles to New York, but in an effort to get Dylan to accept the job Jamie spends the evening taking him around the city trying to sell him on the opportunity and the city.
After a fun night together exploring the city Dylan agrees to take the job. The next day Jamie presents Dylan with the contract to sign so she can land her commission for recruiting him. Not knowing anyone else in the city he and Jamie quickly develop a friendship. One night, while hanging out at Jamie’s apartment watching a romantic comedy, they get on the topic of sex and relationships. They come to the conclusion that sex should not come with so many emotional attachments. Both feeling the need for a physical connection they agree to have sex without emotion or commitment involved. After several trysts together Jamie comes to the realization that this isn’t really what she wants, and she would like to start dating again and informs Dylan that they need to stop.
Jamie meets Parker (Bryan Greenberg
) and they begin dating. After five dates they consummate their relationship but the next morning Parker leaves and informs Jamie he really wasn’t looking for anything more. Furious, Jamie tells Parker off, assuring the end of their relationship. Trying to be sympathetic and to help Jamie get over the pain of the situation Dylan suggests she come with him to California over the July 4th weekend while he visits his family. Jamie is very hesitant, but agrees after much persistence from Dylan. They fly to California where Jamie meets his sister Annie (Jenna Elfman
) and father (Richard Jenkins
). While in California emotional feelings for each other begin to form and they share a passionate kiss, which leads to a night of close intimacy unlike any they had shared before. However the next day Jamie overhears a conversation between Annie and Dylan indicating he has no real feelings for her. Hurt, she flies back to New York. A few days later Dylan returns to New York trying to reconcile his friendship with Jamie and find out why she has been ignoring him. He finally finds Jamie and she informs him she overheard everything he said and has no interest in maintaining any kind of a friendship with him.
Soon after this Jamie discovers that Dylan may be leaving the GQ position for another job, which would affect her commission. She confronts Dylan about this which leads to another argument. Both begin to do some soul searching trying to come to terms with their feelings about their relationship. Jamie spends time with her mother (Patricia Clarkson
), while Dylan discusses it with his sister over the phone. His sister informs him that their father, who suffers from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease
, will be flying to New York and he needs to be picked up at the airport. While eating at the airport with his father, his father, in a moment of Alzheimer's-induced confusion, incorrectly recognizes a passerby as a woman from his past. Dylan asks him about this woman, and his father, upon regaining his lucidity, says that she was a woman he met in the Navy, that she was the love of his life, and regrets decisions he made in his youth to let her go.
Dylan realizes how he feels about Jamie and after a talk with his friend and coworker, Tommy (Woody Harrelson
), decides to go after her. He calls Jamie’s mother to set up an excuse to get Jamie to go to Grand Central Station thinking she will be picking her mother up and arranges to have a flash mob
scene set up to surprise Jamie at Grand Central. When the moment comes he catches up with Jamie and tells her how he really feels. Surprised and happy by this turn of events Jamie tells him to kiss her. After sharing a kiss Dylan suggests it is time they go on their first real date. They go to the café across the street, and although they attempt to keep the date casual and relaxed, the film ends with them in a sensual embrace and passionate kiss.
was the first to sign on to the project and he was soon followed by Mila Kunis
when she landed the female lead opposite him. Approximately two months later Variety
announced that an ensemble cast consisting of Emma Stone, Patricia Clarkson
, Richard Jenkins
, Woody Harrelson
, Andy Samberg
, and Jenna Elfman
were set to join them in the film. Three days after principal filming began Bryan Greenberg
completed the cast. Friends with Benefits featured cameo appearances from Jason Segel
, Shaun White
and Rashida Jones
. Production locations were set up as early as July 13, and principal filmography commenced on July 20, 2010 in the Midtown Manhattan
section of New York City
. Filming continued in Central Park
and other sections of New York City from July to early August before the production relocated to Los Angeles, California
.
Paramount Pictures dropped its original protest against the film after their director, Ivan Reitman
, re-titled his film No Strings Attached. Screen Gems
was then clear to move forward with the title Friends with Benefits. At the same time NBC was developing a sitcom with the same title, but the movie production company stated that due to its production schedule, they didn’t expect an issue to arise. Screen Gems chose to accelerate production for fear they would lose their title to the competing Paramount project. Director Will Gluck
spoke about the frustration of comparing the two films, stating: "I wish there was more space between them. The thing that's irking me now is people are saying we're remaking No Strings Attached. We're not remaking it. The two movies were being made at the same time." Further outrage was expressed by Gluck in an interview with the New Zealand Herald, going on to say that Friends with Benefits was "very different to No Strings Attached". Similar sentiments were expressed by Kunis, opining, "It's just two different movies. There's only [...] so many stories you can tell in the world. This is just one of the many."
The first red-band trailer debuted on November 5, 2010, while the first theatrical trailer was released on March 16, 2011. The trailer had a subsequent release on YouTube
and attracted over a million views in 48 hours, becoming the second most watched video of the day and the most viewed video in the category of "film" around the globe. Promotion for Friends with Benefits subsequently grew, including promotional videos from Facebook
and Twitter
. Timberlake and Kunis also landed on the cover of Elle
in support of the film.
stated that the concept of the story began with the idea that he wanted to work with Kunis and Timberlake, explaining that he rewrote the script for the two actors. Following those changes, Gluck expressed that he wanted to attract a more adult audience and that he "wanted to do more of an adult movie about sex, too, and about relationships." He went on to compare the storyline of Friends with Benefits to the relationship in films between Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy
.
In an interview with Movieline
, Gluck further discussed the film's plot saying that Friends with Benefits would relate largely with a younger generation. He added: "They comment about these romantic comedies throughout the movie, and as they go through their storyline, they realize that they’re in a romantic comedy story — as two regular people who aren’t in a movie would comment on. They’re very cognizant that they’re in this story [...] but they end up embracing the fact that they’re going through a romantic comedy moment." In an interview with the Los Angeles Times
, Timberlake explained that he and Gluck held authorship of humor and tone in regards to Friends with Benefits. Timberlake and Kunis workshopped the script for more than a month before the movie went into production. Gluck would meet with the actors with 20 pages of script in front of him and the three would beat it up, changing lines, and defending each character's perspective.
. In June 2011, it was announced that Madison Gate Records would be distributing the album which featured fifteen songs. The album for Friends with Benefits was released on July 19, 2011.
website Rotten Tomatoes
, based on 154 reviews with an average rating of 6.3/10, with the consensus: "Friends with Benefits adds nothing new to its well-worn rom-com formula, but the chemistry between Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis is almost enough to carry the movie by itself." Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average
score, gave the film a 63 out of 100 based on 37 reviews from critics.
Manohla Dargis
of The New York Times
stated that Friends with Benefits is a "breezy, speedy and funny comedy with a nicely matched Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis." Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
gave the film a three out of four stars, and remarked that "what not every [romantic comedy] has, however, is good dialogue, well-delivered at a fast clip." He added, "Kunis fast-talks her way through the opening scenes as if she's channeling Juno
, and Timberlake easily keeps up. At some fundamental level, I simply enjoyed watching them." Peter Debruge of Variety
found the plot to be predictable and benign; however, he complimented the cast, stating that Kunis is "a natural with comedy", while Timberlake "exudes the kind of star wattage that put Will Smith
on top." Likewise, Salon
Andrew O'Hehir asserted that despite a disappointing conclusion to the film, it was nonetheless a "rewarding summer diversion." The Guardian
writer Peter Bradshaw
reacted negatively to Friends with Benefits, expressing that there "was no benefit to watching it." Bradshaw gave the film a one out of five stars.
The Telegraph
Sukhdev Sandhu felt that Justin Timberlake held his own when working with Mila Kunis. Concluding his review, Sandhu presented Friends with Benefits a three out of five stars. Betsey Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times
praised the acting in the film, opining that "it [brought] a lot of natural life to the party." Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter
gave the film a positive review, stating that there was "palpable chemistry" between Timberlake and Kunis. Entertainment Weekly
writer Owen Gleiberman gave Friends with Benefits a 'B-' grade, exclaiming that while he enjoyed much of the film, he felt that it was inconsistent.
Mary Pols of Time
applauded the film, and wrote that despite the plot being predictable, the film was "elevated by energetic dialogue, the sexual chemistry between the leads and the fact that the miscommunication that keeps bliss at bay [...] is plausible." Giving Friends with Benefits a three star rating, the Boston Globe journalist Ty Burr opined that the film "works like a charm." He added that it mostly keeps its manic energy in check, and that it plays to chick-flick formulas without ever groveling -which is due almost entirely to the leads." Similar sentiments were expressed by Peter Paras of E! Online
. Giving it a 'B' grade, Paras asserted that the film was the best romantic comedy film in a long time. Melissa Leong of the National Post
wrote, "While the film takes jabs at the Hollywood fairy tale, [...] Gluck adheres to the formula."
on July 22, 2011, in 2,926 theaters. It collected $6,801,594 on its opening day and then grossed a total of $18,622,150 in its opening weekend, finishing third at the box office, behind Captain America: The First Avenger
and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
. The film grossed $55.8 million in the United States
and Canada
.
The film had similar success internationally. In Australia
, it premiered on August 18, 2011 and earned $2.4 million during its opening weekend, charting above The Green Lantern to finish first at the box office. The film expanded into Europe
in September 2011. It grossed $10.6 million from over 20 territories in its first weekend. Friends with Benefits topped first place in France
, where it opened with $1.8 million. The film performed highest in the United Kingdom
and Germany
, where it grossed $3.1 million and $2.6 million in its first weekend upon release, respectively. By mid-September, the film had grossed over $29.6 million overseas. As of November 2011 it has grossed over 149.5 million worldwide, with international grosses standing at $93.7 million.
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
directed by Will Gluck
Will Gluck
Will Gluck is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.-Career:Will's career started off writing for The John Larroquette Show and then he went on to write and produce for shows like Grosse Pointe, Luis and Andy Richter Controls the Universe. He co-created and produced the Fox series...
and starring Mila Kunis
Mila Kunis
Milena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...
and Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
. The film features an ensemble cast
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
which includes Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
, Bryan Greenberg
Bryan Greenberg
Bryan E. Greenberg is an American actor and musician, known for his starring role as Ben Epstein in the HBO original series How to Make It in America as well as a recurring role as Jake Jagielski in the The WB TV series One Tree Hill and as Nick Garrett on the short-lived ABC drama October Road...
, Jenna Elfman
Jenna Elfman
Jennifer Mary "Jenna" Elfman is an American television and film actress. She is known for her role as Dharma on the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg and as Billie on the short-lived CBS sitcom Accidentally on Purpose....
, Richard Jenkins
Richard Jenkins
Richard Dale Jenkins is an American stage, film, and television actor. After beginning his career in theatre, Jenkins made his film debut in 1974, and appeared in supporting roles in numerous film productions in the 1980s and the 1990s. His breakthrough came in the 2000s for playing the deceased...
, Emma Stone and Patricia Clarkson
Patricia Clarkson
Patricia Davies Clarkson is an American actress. After studying drama on the East Coast, Clarkson launched her acting career in 1985, and has worked steadily in both film and television. She twice won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in Six Feet Under...
. The plot revolves around Jamie (Kunis) and Dylan (Timberlake), who meet in New York City and naively believe adding sex to their relationship will not lead to complications. Over time they begin to develop deep mutual feelings for each other, only to deny it each time they are together.
Principal casting for the film took place over a three-month period from April to July 2010. Gluck reworked the original script and plot shortly after casting Timberlake and Kunis. Filming began in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on July 20, 2010, and concluded in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in September 2010. The film was distributed by Screen Gems
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
and was released in North America on July 22, 2011. Friends with Benefits was generally well received by film critics, and became a commercial success at the box office grossing over $149.5 million worldwide.
Plot
Jamie (Mila KunisMila Kunis
Milena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...
) is an Executive Recruiter for a leading job agency in New York City and Dylan (Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
) works as an art director for a small internet company in Los Angeles. Jamie has the task of trying to recruit Dylan to interview for a job with GQ magazine and begin working in New York City. Dylan comes to New York and after interviewing for the position learns from Jamie that he has been given an offer to work for GQ. At first Dylan is hesitant to accept and move from Los Angeles to New York, but in an effort to get Dylan to accept the job Jamie spends the evening taking him around the city trying to sell him on the opportunity and the city.
After a fun night together exploring the city Dylan agrees to take the job. The next day Jamie presents Dylan with the contract to sign so she can land her commission for recruiting him. Not knowing anyone else in the city he and Jamie quickly develop a friendship. One night, while hanging out at Jamie’s apartment watching a romantic comedy, they get on the topic of sex and relationships. They come to the conclusion that sex should not come with so many emotional attachments. Both feeling the need for a physical connection they agree to have sex without emotion or commitment involved. After several trysts together Jamie comes to the realization that this isn’t really what she wants, and she would like to start dating again and informs Dylan that they need to stop.
Jamie meets Parker (Bryan Greenberg
Bryan Greenberg
Bryan E. Greenberg is an American actor and musician, known for his starring role as Ben Epstein in the HBO original series How to Make It in America as well as a recurring role as Jake Jagielski in the The WB TV series One Tree Hill and as Nick Garrett on the short-lived ABC drama October Road...
) and they begin dating. After five dates they consummate their relationship but the next morning Parker leaves and informs Jamie he really wasn’t looking for anything more. Furious, Jamie tells Parker off, assuring the end of their relationship. Trying to be sympathetic and to help Jamie get over the pain of the situation Dylan suggests she come with him to California over the July 4th weekend while he visits his family. Jamie is very hesitant, but agrees after much persistence from Dylan. They fly to California where Jamie meets his sister Annie (Jenna Elfman
Jenna Elfman
Jennifer Mary "Jenna" Elfman is an American television and film actress. She is known for her role as Dharma on the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg and as Billie on the short-lived CBS sitcom Accidentally on Purpose....
) and father (Richard Jenkins
Richard Jenkins
Richard Dale Jenkins is an American stage, film, and television actor. After beginning his career in theatre, Jenkins made his film debut in 1974, and appeared in supporting roles in numerous film productions in the 1980s and the 1990s. His breakthrough came in the 2000s for playing the deceased...
). While in California emotional feelings for each other begin to form and they share a passionate kiss, which leads to a night of close intimacy unlike any they had shared before. However the next day Jamie overhears a conversation between Annie and Dylan indicating he has no real feelings for her. Hurt, she flies back to New York. A few days later Dylan returns to New York trying to reconcile his friendship with Jamie and find out why she has been ignoring him. He finally finds Jamie and she informs him she overheard everything he said and has no interest in maintaining any kind of a friendship with him.
Soon after this Jamie discovers that Dylan may be leaving the GQ position for another job, which would affect her commission. She confronts Dylan about this which leads to another argument. Both begin to do some soul searching trying to come to terms with their feelings about their relationship. Jamie spends time with her mother (Patricia Clarkson
Patricia Clarkson
Patricia Davies Clarkson is an American actress. After studying drama on the East Coast, Clarkson launched her acting career in 1985, and has worked steadily in both film and television. She twice won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in Six Feet Under...
), while Dylan discusses it with his sister over the phone. His sister informs him that their father, who suffers from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
, will be flying to New York and he needs to be picked up at the airport. While eating at the airport with his father, his father, in a moment of Alzheimer's-induced confusion, incorrectly recognizes a passerby as a woman from his past. Dylan asks him about this woman, and his father, upon regaining his lucidity, says that she was a woman he met in the Navy, that she was the love of his life, and regrets decisions he made in his youth to let her go.
Dylan realizes how he feels about Jamie and after a talk with his friend and coworker, Tommy (Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
), decides to go after her. He calls Jamie’s mother to set up an excuse to get Jamie to go to Grand Central Station thinking she will be picking her mother up and arranges to have a flash mob
Flash mob
A flash mob is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and sometimes seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, artistic expression...
scene set up to surprise Jamie at Grand Central. When the moment comes he catches up with Jamie and tells her how he really feels. Surprised and happy by this turn of events Jamie tells him to kiss her. After sharing a kiss Dylan suggests it is time they go on their first real date. They go to the café across the street, and although they attempt to keep the date casual and relaxed, the film ends with them in a sensual embrace and passionate kiss.
Cast
- Mila KunisMila KunisMilena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...
as Jamie - Justin TimberlakeJustin TimberlakeJustin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
as Dylan - Nolan GouldNolan GouldNolan Gould is an American child actor best known for his starring role as Luke Dunphy on the ABC comedy Modern Family. He is the brother of Aidan Gould-Acting career:...
as Sammy - Woody HarrelsonWoody HarrelsonWoodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
as Tommy - Patricia ClarksonPatricia ClarksonPatricia Davies Clarkson is an American actress. After studying drama on the East Coast, Clarkson launched her acting career in 1985, and has worked steadily in both film and television. She twice won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in Six Feet Under...
as Lorna - Richard JenkinsRichard JenkinsRichard Dale Jenkins is an American stage, film, and television actor. After beginning his career in theatre, Jenkins made his film debut in 1974, and appeared in supporting roles in numerous film productions in the 1980s and the 1990s. His breakthrough came in the 2000s for playing the deceased...
as Mr. Harper - Emma Stone as Kayla
- Jenna ElfmanJenna ElfmanJennifer Mary "Jenna" Elfman is an American television and film actress. She is known for her role as Dharma on the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg and as Billie on the short-lived CBS sitcom Accidentally on Purpose....
as Annie - Andy SambergAndy SambergDavid Andrew "Andy" Samberg is an American actor, comedian, rapper and writer best known as a member of the comedy group The Lonely Island and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live...
as Quincy - Bryan GreenbergBryan GreenbergBryan E. Greenberg is an American actor and musician, known for his starring role as Ben Epstein in the HBO original series How to Make It in America as well as a recurring role as Jake Jagielski in the The WB TV series One Tree Hill and as Nick Garrett on the short-lived ABC drama October Road...
as Parker - Masi OkaMasi OkaMasayori "Masi" Oka is a Japanese-American actor and digital effects artist.He has performed in numerous feature films and TV series, most prominently as Hiro Nakamura in the NBC TV series Heroes from 2006 until its cancellation in May 2010. He resides in Los Angeles, California.-Early life:Oka...
as Darin Arturo Morena
Development
In April 2010, Justin TimberlakeJustin Timberlake
Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...
was the first to sign on to the project and he was soon followed by Mila Kunis
Mila Kunis
Milena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy...
when she landed the female lead opposite him. Approximately two months later Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
announced that an ensemble cast consisting of Emma Stone, Patricia Clarkson
Patricia Clarkson
Patricia Davies Clarkson is an American actress. After studying drama on the East Coast, Clarkson launched her acting career in 1985, and has worked steadily in both film and television. She twice won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in Six Feet Under...
, Richard Jenkins
Richard Jenkins
Richard Dale Jenkins is an American stage, film, and television actor. After beginning his career in theatre, Jenkins made his film debut in 1974, and appeared in supporting roles in numerous film productions in the 1980s and the 1990s. His breakthrough came in the 2000s for playing the deceased...
, Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
, Andy Samberg
Andy Samberg
David Andrew "Andy" Samberg is an American actor, comedian, rapper and writer best known as a member of the comedy group The Lonely Island and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live...
, and Jenna Elfman
Jenna Elfman
Jennifer Mary "Jenna" Elfman is an American television and film actress. She is known for her role as Dharma on the ABC sitcom Dharma & Greg and as Billie on the short-lived CBS sitcom Accidentally on Purpose....
were set to join them in the film. Three days after principal filming began Bryan Greenberg
Bryan Greenberg
Bryan E. Greenberg is an American actor and musician, known for his starring role as Ben Epstein in the HBO original series How to Make It in America as well as a recurring role as Jake Jagielski in the The WB TV series One Tree Hill and as Nick Garrett on the short-lived ABC drama October Road...
completed the cast. Friends with Benefits featured cameo appearances from Jason Segel
Jason Segel
Jason Jordan Segel is an American television and film actor, screenwriter, composer, puppeteer and musician, known for his work with producer Judd Apatow on the short-lived television series Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, the films Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up, I Love You, Man,...
, Shaun White
Shaun White
Shaun Roger White is an American professional snowboarder and skateboarder. He is a two-time Olympic gold medalist. He rides regular stance, twelve and negative three degrees on his board.-Early life:Shaun White is an Irish American...
and Rashida Jones
Rashida Jones
Rashida Leah Jones is an American film and television actress, comic book author, screenwriter and occasional singer. She played Louisa Fenn on Boston Public and Karen Filippelli on The Office as well as roles in the films I Love You, Man and The Social Network...
. Production locations were set up as early as July 13, and principal filmography commenced on July 20, 2010 in the Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
section of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Filming continued in Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
and other sections of New York City from July to early August before the production relocated to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Paramount Pictures dropped its original protest against the film after their director, Ivan Reitman
Ivan Reitman
Ivan Reitman, OC is a Canadian film producer and director. He is known for the comedies he has directed and produced, especially in the 1980s and 1990s.He is the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 2000.-Early life:...
, re-titled his film No Strings Attached. Screen Gems
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
was then clear to move forward with the title Friends with Benefits. At the same time NBC was developing a sitcom with the same title, but the movie production company stated that due to its production schedule, they didn’t expect an issue to arise. Screen Gems chose to accelerate production for fear they would lose their title to the competing Paramount project. Director Will Gluck
Will Gluck
Will Gluck is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.-Career:Will's career started off writing for The John Larroquette Show and then he went on to write and produce for shows like Grosse Pointe, Luis and Andy Richter Controls the Universe. He co-created and produced the Fox series...
spoke about the frustration of comparing the two films, stating: "I wish there was more space between them. The thing that's irking me now is people are saying we're remaking No Strings Attached. We're not remaking it. The two movies were being made at the same time." Further outrage was expressed by Gluck in an interview with the New Zealand Herald, going on to say that Friends with Benefits was "very different to No Strings Attached". Similar sentiments were expressed by Kunis, opining, "It's just two different movies. There's only [...] so many stories you can tell in the world. This is just one of the many."
The first red-band trailer debuted on November 5, 2010, while the first theatrical trailer was released on March 16, 2011. The trailer had a subsequent release on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and attracted over a million views in 48 hours, becoming the second most watched video of the day and the most viewed video in the category of "film" around the globe. Promotion for Friends with Benefits subsequently grew, including promotional videos from Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. Timberlake and Kunis also landed on the cover of Elle
Elle (magazine)
Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...
in support of the film.
Writing
Will GluckWill Gluck
Will Gluck is an American film director, screenwriter and producer.-Career:Will's career started off writing for The John Larroquette Show and then he went on to write and produce for shows like Grosse Pointe, Luis and Andy Richter Controls the Universe. He co-created and produced the Fox series...
stated that the concept of the story began with the idea that he wanted to work with Kunis and Timberlake, explaining that he rewrote the script for the two actors. Following those changes, Gluck expressed that he wanted to attract a more adult audience and that he "wanted to do more of an adult movie about sex, too, and about relationships." He went on to compare the storyline of Friends with Benefits to the relationship in films between Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
.
In an interview with Movieline
Movieline
Movieline is a website, formerly a Los Angeles-based film and entertainment magazine, started in 1985 as a local magazine and went national in 1989. Known for its cult status and popularity among film critics, the magazine eventually was retooled and named Movieline's Hollywood Life. The magazine...
, Gluck further discussed the film's plot saying that Friends with Benefits would relate largely with a younger generation. He added: "They comment about these romantic comedies throughout the movie, and as they go through their storyline, they realize that they’re in a romantic comedy story — as two regular people who aren’t in a movie would comment on. They’re very cognizant that they’re in this story [...] but they end up embracing the fact that they’re going through a romantic comedy moment." In an interview with the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Timberlake explained that he and Gluck held authorship of humor and tone in regards to Friends with Benefits. Timberlake and Kunis workshopped the script for more than a month before the movie went into production. Gluck would meet with the actors with 20 pages of script in front of him and the three would beat it up, changing lines, and defending each character's perspective.
Music
The soundtrack for the film was composed by Halli CautheryHalli Cauthery
Halli Cauthery is a British/Icelandic film score composer. He wrote the score for the Shrek Hallowee'en television special Scared Shrekless, which aired on the NBC network in October 2010; as well as the Lifetime Television film Living Proof...
. In June 2011, it was announced that Madison Gate Records would be distributing the album which featured fifteen songs. The album for Friends with Benefits was released on July 19, 2011.
Critical response
Upon release, Friends with Benefits received positive reviews from critics. The film has a 71% approval rating on the review aggregatorReview aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services . This system stores the reviews and then uses them for purposes such as: creating a website for users to view the reviews, selling information to third parties about consumer tendencies and creating databases for...
website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, based on 154 reviews with an average rating of 6.3/10, with the consensus: "Friends with Benefits adds nothing new to its well-worn rom-com formula, but the chemistry between Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis is almost enough to carry the movie by itself." Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score, gave the film a 63 out of 100 based on 37 reviews from critics.
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with A.O. Scott. She was formerly a chief film critic for the Los Angeles Times, the film editor at the LA Weekly, and a film critic at The Village Voice. She has written for a variety of publications, including Film Comment and...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
stated that Friends with Benefits is a "breezy, speedy and funny comedy with a nicely matched Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
gave the film a three out of four stars, and remarked that "what not every [romantic comedy] has, however, is good dialogue, well-delivered at a fast clip." He added, "Kunis fast-talks her way through the opening scenes as if she's channeling Juno
Juno (film)
Juno is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Jason Reitman and written by Diablo Cody. Ellen Page stars as the title character, an independent-minded teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her. Michael Cera, Olivia Thirlby, J. K....
, and Timberlake easily keeps up. At some fundamental level, I simply enjoyed watching them." Peter Debruge of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
found the plot to be predictable and benign; however, he complimented the cast, stating that Kunis is "a natural with comedy", while Timberlake "exudes the kind of star wattage that put Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
on top." Likewise, Salon
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
Andrew O'Hehir asserted that despite a disappointing conclusion to the film, it was nonetheless a "rewarding summer diversion." The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
writer Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw is a British writer and film critic. He was educated at Cambridge University, where he was President of Footlights.Bradshaw is a film critic for The Guardian...
reacted negatively to Friends with Benefits, expressing that there "was no benefit to watching it." Bradshaw gave the film a one out of five stars.
The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
Sukhdev Sandhu felt that Justin Timberlake held his own when working with Mila Kunis. Concluding his review, Sandhu presented Friends with Benefits a three out of five stars. Betsey Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
praised the acting in the film, opining that "it [brought] a lot of natural life to the party." Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
gave the film a positive review, stating that there was "palpable chemistry" between Timberlake and Kunis. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
writer Owen Gleiberman gave Friends with Benefits a 'B-' grade, exclaiming that while he enjoyed much of the film, he felt that it was inconsistent.
Mary Pols of Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
applauded the film, and wrote that despite the plot being predictable, the film was "elevated by energetic dialogue, the sexual chemistry between the leads and the fact that the miscommunication that keeps bliss at bay [...] is plausible." Giving Friends with Benefits a three star rating, the Boston Globe journalist Ty Burr opined that the film "works like a charm." He added that it mostly keeps its manic energy in check, and that it plays to chick-flick formulas without ever groveling -which is due almost entirely to the leads." Similar sentiments were expressed by Peter Paras of E! Online
E!
E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.E! has an audience reach of...
. Giving it a 'B' grade, Paras asserted that the film was the best romantic comedy film in a long time. Melissa Leong of the National Post
National Post
The National Post is a Canadian English-language national newspaper based in Don Mills, a district of Toronto. The paper is owned by Postmedia Network Inc. and is published Mondays through Saturdays...
wrote, "While the film takes jabs at the Hollywood fairy tale, [...] Gluck adheres to the formula."
Box office
Friends with Benefits was released in North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on July 22, 2011, in 2,926 theaters. It collected $6,801,594 on its opening day and then grossed a total of $18,622,150 in its opening weekend, finishing third at the box office, behind Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America: The First Avenger
Captain America: The First Avenger is a 2011 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Captain America. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is a 2011 epic fantasy film directed by David Yates and the second of two films based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the eighth and final instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David...
. The film grossed $55.8 million in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
The film had similar success internationally. In Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, it premiered on August 18, 2011 and earned $2.4 million during its opening weekend, charting above The Green Lantern to finish first at the box office. The film expanded into Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in September 2011. It grossed $10.6 million from over 20 territories in its first weekend. Friends with Benefits topped first place in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where it opened with $1.8 million. The film performed highest in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where it grossed $3.1 million and $2.6 million in its first weekend upon release, respectively. By mid-September, the film had grossed over $29.6 million overseas. As of November 2011 it has grossed over 149.5 million worldwide, with international grosses standing at $93.7 million.
Accolades
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Teen Choice Awards 2011 Teen Choice Awards The 2011 Teen Choice Awards hosted by Kaley Cuoco aired live on August 7, 2011 at 8/7c on Fox. This was the first time that the ceremonies were aired live since the 2007 show... |
Choice Summer Movie Star: Male | Justin Timberlake Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez... |
|
| Choice Summer Movie Star: Female | Mila Kunis Mila Kunis Milena "Mila" Kunis is an American actress. Her work includes the role of Jackie Burkhart on the TV series That '70s Show and the voice of Meg Griffin on the animated series Family Guy... |
||
| People's Choice Awards People's Choice Awards The People's Choice Awards is an American awards show recognizing the people and the work of popular culture. The show has been held annually since 1975 and is voted on by the general public. The People's Choice Awards air on CBS and are produced by Procter & Gamble and Survivor magnate Mark Burnett... |
Favorite Comedy Movie | Friends with Benefits | |
| Favorite Comedic Movie Actress | Mila Kunis | ||