For romantics with an 8-foot-wide posterior, the game of love is not the easiest to play.
For anyone who felt the pain of being unpopular in high school, "Just Friends" offers hope to former nerds while providing some golden comedic material.
The movie has the potential to fall in line with the likes of "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Office Space," the cult phenomena that came out of nowhere to find surprising success.
Not to say that "Just Friends" is an instant classic, but what director Roger Kumble (writer and director of the "Cruel Intentions" series) brings is a funny film that will have everyone laughing at least some of the time.
"Just Friends" tells the story of a man named Chris (Ryan Reynolds of "Van Wilder") who returns to his hometown for one last chance to woo the girl he always wanted.
After his plane has mechanical problems, he accidentally lands in his hometown. Chris soon discovers that his old best friend Jamie (Amy Smart of "Road Trip") still lives there. Because Chris' adolescence was burdened with braces and an overweight physique, he was too self-conscious to tell Jamie of the secret crush he had on her during high school.
Just when the film seems to be another pop culture spin-off that advises on the dos and don'ts of relationships, the film unleashes an arsenal of laughs that make you quickly forget the exhausted theme.
Newcomer Adam Davis gives his script all the elements that are necessary for a good comedy: slapstick situations, sarcasm and good old-fashioned potty humor. For a large part of the film, the audience will be gasping for breath between laughs.
In one incident, Chris squares off against middle-school kids in a pick-up hockey game. Later, he starts a fight with Dusty (Chris Klein of "American Pie") during a children's Christmas program.
Ryan Reynolds carries much of the film. His ability to immerse himself in the character and the script is magnificent to watch. It almost seems like Davis saw Reynolds in his short-lived sitcom "Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place" and wrote the character just for him.
Unfortunately for Reynolds, his acting throughout the movie reveals the reason he's cast for B-list films like "Van Wilder" and "Waiting." Reynolds struggles to stay in character and tries to convince the audience that he can play both the comedian and the serious romantic. In any other film this would cause a collapse, but luckily for Reynolds the supporting cast helps him bear the load.
Combine every image of the countless pop-culture queens that flood our airwaves and televisions and you have character Samantha Jones (Anna Faris of the "Scary Movie" franchise). One of the rising stars under Reynolds' management, Jones takes the self-absorbed pop idol stereotype to the next level. Unlike many films of this type, her character never gets irritating, thanks to the infrequency of her appearances.
Some of the antics and comedic routines in the film are more than predictable-the film's biggest downside. The director seems to repeatedly hint at what is going to happen, inserting random shots of objects or landscapes that are to be included in the upcoming hijinxes. That however, doesn't stop the audience from laughing when each scene happens.
Romantic scenes drag the plot, though someone looking for a love story may find it endearing.
"Just Friends" comes to theatres at the right time for target audience to help them forget about the stress and anxiety of exam time, and is worth watching for the slapstick aspect alone.
