Movie Info

Just Friends - "Moments like this have been ruining friendships for centuries."

Another Ryan Reynolds' comedy film. This time it's got the Amy Smart as the hot love interest and Anna Faris as the crazy, psychotic pop-star girlfriend to Reynolds' character. Reynolds play the Chris Brander, a hot shot music executive who, ten years earlier, was an overweight geek madly in love with Jamie (Amy Smart). Jamie rejects Chris towards the end of high school (just friends *shudder*) and Chris vows to "show them all". Jump to ten years later and Chris has become a womanizing music executive who has sworn off the "just friends" relationship with any woman. Chris gets the job of escorting pop sensation Samantha Jones (Anna Faris) to a party but an "accident" on the plane forces Chris to stop over in his hometown. Chris discovers that despite all this womanizing efforts, he's still an idiot when it comes to the one girl he loves.

I'm surprised this movie turned out the way it did; especially from the director of "Cruel Intentions" and "The Sweetest Thing". Roger Kumble does a fairly decent job in directing this comedy love story. I think that Anna Faris stole the show with her role as Samantha Jones. Jones is written to be a spoof of pop stars like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Paris Hilton, etc. The bitchy, self-absorbed princess that has a pea for a brain does a great job to counter-balance the boring love story between Chris and Jamie.

I love how Chris goes from being a suave, womanizing, asshole to a complete and utter idiot when dealing with Jamie. The movie has countless scenes of Chris screwing up royally with Jamie. The story gets a little more complicated with the addition of Dusty (Chris Klein), another one of Jamie's high school crushes. Amy Smart's character is a little one-dimensional but it didn't matter too much. Smart has that hot yet playful look and it worked perfectly with the character. Again, Anna Faris provided great scenes with her psychotic character (the poster is hilarious).

I think a lot of the uncomfortable scenes hit home with me and probably a lot of the male audience as well. How many times have we been in the "friend zone"? Though I'm not sure sleeping in the same bed with almost no clothes on would count as being in the "friend zone"....then again, I've heard of cases like that...yeah right. I've come to understand that I will not understand women and they will continue to remain a mystery for the rest of my life. Contradiction is just an ordinary part of life for women (let the grilling begin).

When I first heard of the premise for the movie, I wanted to check the movie out. When I learned about the case, it compelled me further to see it. When I finally saw it, I think my expectations were a little high. I enjoyed the movie, but I didn't really enjoy the movie. It was entertaining enough to keep my attention and gut-wrenching enough to make me squirm a few times. However, it isn't a film that I will watch over and over again. That doesn't mean I didn't think the film was good, it was, I just think that it could have been better.

Dragoncrypt