Jake doesn’t absolutely love this movie; they’re Just Friends

 
By Jake Dee

Director: Roger Kumble
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart
Released: 2005

Very rarely does a PG-13 formula flick offer anything these days outside an upset stomach.  Predictable, diluted, cutely saccharine; these kinds of flicks are reserved for those adolescent couples who are too busy trying their hardest to hold hands in the theater instead of channeling interest in what’s being shown on screen. Director Roger Kumble, of Cruel Intentions (part deux as well) and College Road Trip fame, knows a thing or two about said odious formula.  Yet somehow, a charming little satire of his called Just Friends actually hits a decent mark.  It’s a silly movie, but it’s a funny one.  One with a heartbeat (even if arrhythmic); and that makes it somewhat of a winner!

Just Friends has quite the awkward opening; and really for the first 15-20 minutes, the film is a mess.  We’re subjected to random flashbacks and uncomfortably rapid character introductions. We get a retelling of our hero Chris Brander’s (Reynolds) painful high school memories as an overweight, unpopular geek who pines for his best friend Jamie Palomino (Smart), a girl who’s slept with every guy this side of town, leaving Chris in that much lamented “friends only” zone.  Even after graduation with a drunk and willing Jamie, Chris hasn’t the gall to make a move; instead another jock neck from the old class does it for him.  Chris idly watches another opportunity with Jamie fly right out the window.

Cut to L.A. ten years later, where Chris has transformed into a chic Hollywood playboy. He’s successful, lost the weight, and now dates models by the night. He’s become sarcastic though, much more mean spirited than we gathered in the opening sequence.  He works in the music business, and on new assignment we meet Samantha James (Anna Faris), a doltish blonde cotton candy pop singer cut from the same cloth as a Spears or an Ashley Simpson.  It’s Chris’ job to make sure Samantha travels safely, but their flight coincidentally lands near Chris’ home town somewhere in New Jersey.  It’s the holiday season, and as he takes Samantha to his house until further arrangements are made, we meet Chris’ family and friends.

His mother Carol (Julie Hagarty) is a sweet, soft spoken space case who balls like a 6 year old when first seeing her son after a decade.  Mike (Chris Marquette), Chris’ younger brother, is a smart-talking slacker who’s always liked to play pranks on his loser deemed brother.  You mix these personalities with that of Samantha James, it’s no wonder why Chris wants to immediately start drinking.  At his local watering hole, we meet old pals Clark (Fred Ewanuick) and Darla (Amy Matysio), high school sweethearts” who’ve since married and expect a child.  Then we see Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart), Chris’ former best friend and long desired love interest.  She’s moved back in with her parents, tends bar part time until she gets her teaching credentials.  Chris delays his next morning flight so he can have lunch and catch up with Jamie.

But instead of simply telling Jamie how he’s felt over the years, Chris tries his L.A. tactics of acting cold and distant, answering his cell whenever she discusses something of importance. Desperate to rise out of the “friends only” zone, Chris hatches a series of dishonest attempts at winning Jamie’s heart, or at least her pants.  He has competition however, a fellow highschool-nerd-turned-confident-heartthrob named Dusty Dinkleman (Chris Klein), a part time EMT who does all he can to woo Jamie with a song he’s been writing since high school.  It isn’t until Chris expresses to Jamie how he truly feels about her that allows them to grow into something more than friends.  Despite having a pretty good idea of where the film will end up, the journey getting there is quite fun. 

A lot of the humor in the movie comes from reaction shots.  Any time a joke falls flat, or isn’t entirely effective on its own, we simply get a close up of Ryan Reynolds, shocked, mouth agape…his character wishing he was in another place, any but home for the holidays.  After about a half hour, the flick picks up the pace and really hits its stride.  There’s a good forty or so minute chunk of time that could be watched on a continuous loop.  Parts are that funny!  It’s deliberately over the top, poking fun at stereotypes like the poor sap fat kid in school or the dumb blonde pop singers who eat tooth paste for fun.  Maybe It’s because this is not a typical teen comedy, for the humor to work well it has to be subtly carried by actors who, in all fairness, have been kicking it around for a decade or so (most of which cultivated in that teen genre).  To their credit, these actors pull it off!  

 
Favorite Part: While I like Dinkleman’s scenes a whole lot, I think the entire ice hockey sequence just might be the funniest.

The Overall Dee-Cision: Watch It!

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