They say that there is no friendship between a man and a woman. The creators of the film Friends with Benefits ("Friendship Sex") agree with this theory and even dedicated a whole film to proving it. Let's find out more about the actors and plot of “Friendship Sex”. And also consider how the tape was received by viewers around the world.
Romantic comedy “Sex with Friendship” (Friends with Benefits, 2011)
The director of this project was Will Glack, he was one of the authors of the script. For the domestic audience, this person is known for a comedy from school life called "Excellent student of easy virtue."
As for the original name of the picture, Friends with Benefits, it is literally translated into Russian as “Friends with Benefits / Benefits”. However, in order to attract a domestic audience, a more effective option was chosen: “Friendship Sex”. At the same time, the initial meaning was a little lost, because the plot of the project is more focused on the friendships of the main characters, and not on sex.
Work on the film was started in April 2010 with auditions of future actors of the film “Friendship Sex”.
The filming itself began in New York on July 20 of that year and ended in September in Los Angeles.
Friendship Sex premiered in New York on July 18, 2011, and cinemas in other American cities on the 22nd.
In Russia, the picture appeared on the screens 06/26/11, and the Ukrainians could see it on 06/28/11.
The story of the appearance of the script for the picture
In the cinema world, as a rule, before starting work on a project, its creators already have a clear scenario, under which investors allocate money. However, in the case of “Friendship Sex” everything turned out a little different.
Will Glack has long wanted to shoot a romantic comedy with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis in the lead roles. However, at the time of the casting, the director had written only 20 pages of the script. Despite such a modest start, Glack managed to convince the artists to work with him. One of his main arguments was to provide future actors of “Friendship Sex” with the opportunity to take part in the creation of the movie script.
Although Justin and Mila themselves did not write anything, they collaborated for almost a month with Glack and other screenwriters (Kate Merriman and David A. Newman), participating in the creation of the characters of their characters. Perhaps that is why their characters turned out to be as organic as the relationship between them.
The plot of the picture
The romantic comedy “Friendship Sex” tells the story of two young people - the headhunter Jamie Reilly and the popular blogger Dylan Harper.
Each of them fails to properly build relationships with the opposite sex and find their soul mate.
A case brings them together: Jamie hires Dylan in the famous New York edition of GQ. Since the guy in the new city has no acquaintances and friends, the girl helps him settle down, and soon they become friends.
Once, worrying about the unsettled personal life and languishing from unsatisfied sexual desires, friends decide to help each other. They begin to have sex for the sake of the process itself.
The ease of such a relationship suits both, but once Jamie has an affair with a charming doctor. The girl believes he is thus the "only". However, in practice it turns out that the new boyfriend is an ordinary womanizer who does not want anything serious.
To comfort a frustrated girlfriend, Dylan takes her for a couple of days to Los Angeles, where his sister and father live. There, young people spend the night together and realize that there is more to them than just friendship. However, Dylan is not ready to admit it, so she inadvertently insults the girl. She returns to New York, breaking off any relationship with him.
In the finale, the main character manages to pray forgiveness from her in an original way and they begin to meet.
The problems of the picture
Despite the seeming frivolity, this project addresses many important issues.
First of all, these are difficulties in building relationships with people. And we are talking not only about love, but also about friendship, family relationships, etc.
In addition, the authors of the script, through the mouths of the main characters, quite ironically discuss stereotypes in romantic relationships.
As for sex, a lot of space is also given to him in the picture. Moreover, not only in the form of elegant and at the same time comical scenes of the process itself, but also as arguments about its role in relations. The authors of the script caustically ridicule the sexual ignorance of many people. So, with numerous books and videos, most often remain sexually illiterate.
A vivid example is Dylan. He is the creator of a super popular blog, is a smart and educated guy. Despite all this, he knows almost nothing about how to make his partner receive satisfaction from sex. Only through the efforts of Jamie her friend finally masters this art.
main characters
The central character of the tape is a slightly shy blogger - Dylan Harper. He is a typical cinematic young wise guy of a new generation - brilliant in the field of information, but completely not adapted to real life. Perhaps that is why he really does not have friends either in his native city or in New York.
A peculiar opposite to Dylan is his girlfriend Jamie. She is a typical New York working girl: resourceful, charming and terribly punchy. Perhaps this last feature prevents her from building a serious relationship with someone. After all, Jamie's assertiveness often scares away guys from her, although many people pay attention to the charms of the girl.
Like Dylan, the brave bounty hunter is alone. In addition to her mother, she does not have truly close people. After all, although she has many friends, relations with them are superficial.
Despite the fact that Jamie vehemently criticizes typical romantic stereotypes, while she herself often follows them. She cries when watching films about love and falls in love with a handsome doctor, being fascinated by his noble profession.
Who played the main characters
The performer of the role of Dylan Justin Timberlake was the first to join the cast of "Friendship Sex." This happened in April 2010.
Although the filmography of this American artist is not very impressive, most of his film works are real hits: “They exchanged places,” “Alpha Dog,” “Social Network,” “Very Bad Teacher,” “Time,” etc.
In addition to working in films, Justin also became famous as a musician. As a child, he sang in the show "Mickey Mouse Club", and then joined one of the most popular groups' N Sync.
The role of charming Jamie was played by an American actress (who was born in the Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi) - Mila Kunis. The real name of this actress is Milena Markovna Kunis.
Unlike Timberlake, she starred in several dozen films. The most successful of them are The 70s Show, Gia, Family Guy, Max Payne, The Black Swan, The Third Extra, This New York Morning, Jupiter Ascent, "Very bad moms 1, 2."
Minor Project Heroes
One of the most enjoyable features of “Friendship Sex” is the presence of well-written secondary characters in the project.
Among the most striking of them is the leading sports column in GQ Tommy. This hero loves women very much, but not as an object of sexual desire, but as an object of art, since he himself is one hundred percent gay. Oddly enough, but it is this strange type who becomes almost the only Dylan's friend except Jamie.
Another unusual heroine is the mother of Jamie - Lorna. In the past, she was a hippie. Because of this, she got used to a free life and love, and she herself does not know who was the father of her daughter. Despite her irresponsibility, Lorna loves her daughter, although she cannot always find a common language with her.
If Jamie has only a mother, then Dylan has only a father. Mrs. Harper had left her family for more than a decade and left for an unknown destination. Mr. Harper, in turn, remained with the children. Besides Dylan, he has a daughter, Annie, and a grandson of Sammy. At the time of the events, Harper's father is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and is under the supervision of his daughter. Among his main oddities is the habit of taking off his pants in public places. Because of this, Dylan is somewhat ashamed of his parent, but closer to the finale he accepts him as he is and draws close to him.
Before starting to meet, each of the main characters had an unsuccessful relationship. So, at the beginning of the movie Dylan throws his girlfriend - Kyle. She is a fan of John Mayer, jealous of her boyfriend for work, and is actively striving to adapt him to herself. At the same time, Kayla considers Dylan callous, although she herself shows a clear indifference to his desires and interests.
Jamie's ex-boyfriend (who throws her at the beginning of the tape) is Quincy. He is an unremarkable typical son of a Jewish mother with hypertrophied responsibility. Because of this, Quincy is capricious and selfish. He seeks maternal care in his partner, but does not want her to have her own interests or needs.
Over time, the main character appears another guy - a children's oncologist Parker. The romantically inclined girl believed that it was he who would become her soulmate - because he was like a fairy-tale prince from her movie dreams. However, in practice, this guy turned out to be an egoist a la Quincy, who simply sought to drag the beautiful Jamie into bed.
Friendship Sex: Actors and Supporting Roles
Having examined the less significant characters of the tape, you should find out who played them.
Gaia Tommy was played by the famous Hollywood artist Wooddy Harrelson (“Obscene Proposal”, “Welcome to Zombieland”, “Illusion of Deception 1, 2”).
The role of Dylan's father was played by the less popular artist Richard Jenkins, who was more famous for playing minor characters in such films as “Wolf”, “Me, I and Irene Again”, “Scammers: Dick and Jane Have Fun”, etc.
Among other famous actors of the film “Friendship Sex” (2011) - the star of “One Tree Hill” Brian Greenberg. He played perfect at first glance Parker. Also, this young artist became famous for participating in such projects as “My Best Lover”, “Brides War”, “How to Succeed in America”.
The role of the first guy Jamie was played by Andy Samberg ("Dad dosvidos", "Classmates 1,2", "Neighbors. On the warpath", "Druzhiny").
Having dealt with the actors of the film "Friendship Sex", it is worth paying attention to the actresses.
The mother of the main character played Patricia Clarkson (“Carrie”, “Dogville”, “Taste of Life”, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, “The Maze Runner”).
The role of Dylan's sister was performed by Jenna Elfman (“She wrote the murder”, “The Six Wives of Henry Lefeuil,” “My Name is Earl”).
Will Glack instructed to play the ex-girlfriend of the protagonist Emma Stone. A year earlier, she, along with Patricia Clarkson, played a major role in "Excellent student of easy virtue." In addition to these works, her filmography includes such projects as “Boys Like It”, “Servant”, “Gangster Hunters”, “New Spider-Man”, “Birdman”, “La La Land” and others.
Celebrities who have played in the episodes
In addition to the above-mentioned actors of the film “Friendship Sex”, the famous American snowboarder Sean White starred in the project as himself . According to the plot, he was a friend of Jamie, while also dreamed of pulling her into bed.
Also, in one of the episodes, the famous Japanese artist Masi Oka (“Heroes”, “Get Smart”) starred.
It is interesting that for "Sex on Friendship" several scenes of a romantic melodrama that the main characters watch were shot. The main roles in it were played by Rashida Jones ("Social Network") and Jason Siegel ("How I Met Your Mother").
How was the picture received?
Despite the straightforward storyline, “Friendship Sex” pleased the audience, which allows us to judge the amount of money earned by him at the box office - more than 150 million (with a budget of 35 million).
After visiting the cinemas on the Internet, more than one review of the film "Friendship Sex" was left. And although most of the reviews were positive, not everyone liked the project.
So, despite financial success, the picture on Rotten Tomatoes received a not very high rating - 69 out of 100. This rating was based on 170 reviews. However, most authors praised the game Timberlake and Kunis.
On the Metacritic picture 37 reviews are devoted, on the basis of which she was given a score of 63 out of 100.
Oddly enough, visitors to Kinopoisk rated Friends with Benefits higher, giving the picture 78.5 out of 100. This rating was based on 207 reviews and reviews. Of these, 149 were positive, 27 were neutral, and 31 reviews of the film Friendship Sex were negative.
Entertaining facts
The first trailer for the tape was released on March 16, 2011. Soon it was posted on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. In addition, as part of the promotion, Timberlake and Kunis starred in a photo shoot for Elle magazine.
The painting was twice nominated for the People's Choice Awards and twice for the Teen Choice Awards. However, she did not receive a single award.
There is a scene in the tape in which the Kunis heroine is exposed, however, in reality, the actress understudy starred in such episodes.
In the United States and Canada, the tape collected a total of 55.8 million. That is, the main viewers (who brought almost 100 million to the cinema) were residents of other countries.