Filed under: Reviews
With as much that Natalie Portman has on her plate these days, including a baby on the way as well as a forthcoming Oscar nomination for her role in 'Black Swan,' now is not the time for one of her films to be underwhelming than her previous work.
Case in point is her latest film, 'No Strings Attached,' in which she co-stars with Ashton Kutcher.
Why does Hollywood keep throwing films ('Valentine's Day,' 'Killers,' 'What Happens in Vegas') at him with A-list talent that fail at the box office?
While Portman, along with Greta Gerwig keep the film lively, 'No Strings' ultimately suffers from unimaginative sequences, blandness and jokes that are not funny at all.
Even with a supporting cast that includes Oscar winner Kevin Kline, Ludacris, and Carl Elwes, director Ivan Reitman's return to the game, after the forgettable 2006 film 'My Super Ex-Girlfriend,' is not good for the industry if his skills are still rusty and not up to par.
Opening up to when they were teenagers, Adam Franklin (played by Kutcher) makes a pass to Emma Kurtzman (played by Portman) after telling her his parents are splitting up. She quickly stops him cold, telling him that she's just not the emotional caring person.
After meeting again for the third time in as many years, Adam's now an assistant to a TV musical show, yearning to be a writer, while Emma is a medical resident at a hospital logging in lots of hours. Upset over the fact that his famous actor dad (played by Kline) is dating his former girlfriend (played by Ophelia Lovibond), Adam and Emma finally "hook up" and agree that sex between them would be a good way to stay in touch without being emotional.
The question is, who's the one that will complicates things once love gets in the way?
While the ending could be seen just from viewing the trailer or the title itself, Reitman could have done better if he had a good script to work with. A romantic comedy works best if at least one of the leads is humorous and unfortunately neither of them have funny bones.
Portman's offbeat and touching at times, like she was in 'Garden State,' but when saddled with Kutcher, who shows no range, her skills are diminished and wasted.
There's far too much talent in the film for actors like Kline, Greta Gerwig, Lake Bell, Mindy Kaling, and Olivia Thirlby, to come in like props and add nothing to the film.
Portman is not in control when her films get released, so one can't fault the timing. Let's hope the reviews don't take her down like 'Norbit' did for Eddie Murphy after he received his best reviews ever and garnered an Academy Award nomination for his role in 'Dreamgirls.' He ended up losing at the Oscars.
'No Strings Attached' is could have been a fun film, but it's too lightweight and unromantic. Paramount should have put this on MTV where Kutcher's audience would have tolerated his performance.