Friends (with Benefits) (2009) Reviews

• It rocks!

  SoSickOfTheRain2009-06-16

  After many years of wonderful but exceedingly depressing films (You Are Alone) and novels (Good Neighbors, Unwound, 9th Square), filmmaker Gorman Bechard returns to his comedy roots (Psychos in Love, and his wonderful first two novels, The Second Greatest Story Ever Told and Balls) with Friends With Benefits, a movie that is billed as a romantic comedy, but is so so so much more. I was lucky enough to get a screener of this film to coincide with the world premiere at STIFF last week. Though I couldn't make it to Seattle, I nonetheless watched the movie on Friday evening, as if I were there. You know it's a Bechard film right off the bat when some of the first words out of any character's mouth are "The Replacements, Husker Du, Archers of Loaf." That made me smile. It also assured me another rocking the free world soundtrack was approaching quickly. The StarSpangles kicked things off during the opening credits! Side note: the rights to the songs in this film would cost the average Hollywood studio a good quarter million dollars, and yet the budget here for the entire film was less than that. So it certainly says a lot about Bechard's film-making abilities that bands of this magnitude trust him with their music, and want to be a part of his films. That speaks volumes. Friends is a simple enough story at heart. A boy and a girl, Owen and Chloe, friends since childhood, both now in med school, both too busy for romance, decide to become friends with benefits, and have no strings attached sex, to at least lessen their burden of horniness. Of course, they've been secretly in love with each other forever, and thus the problems begin. And though they certainly do have their issues, it's nothing compared to their four friends, who at first warn them of the dangers of sleeping with your friends, until of course the temptation becomes unbearable. I won't reveal what happened next, but will say that about the half-way point I thought, oh, no, I can't believe Bechard is going there. Such a cliché. Well, he did...but then within second, he went one step farther, the cliché was slaughtered, and all was well with the world. Friends With Benefits crosses the line, wonderfully and comically. I won't say which line, but trust me; you'll know it when you get to it. I was trying to think of a good comparison to other movies, and I would have to say it contains the best raunchy humor of a Judd Aptow film combined with the sweetness of the best romantic comedies like The Wedding Singer, or The Sure Thing. It's a marvelous story (with amazing music) about love and lust and longing and sexual identity, and it so rings true to life because damn if me and everyone I know didn't experiment a little in college. It IS true to life. The acting is great. The cast is adorable. I want to go for a drink with Alison. I want to do dirty things to Owen. I don't know if the band in the film really play together, but they sure seem as if they do. The editing by Bechard and Ashley McGarry, also his writing and producing partner on the project, is fast and furious. Amazing use of split screens!!! The script is crisp, with dialog that real people would actually speak. The movie looks amazing. OK, if I were to nitpick, the first 10 minutes are a little slow. But then, the first 10 minutes of most indie films are slow. Hell, most indie films are slow, period. And I'm not in love with one of the small supporting roles, but we're talking a few lines of dialog. It's not horrible, just not as great as the leads. Okay, I really thought Jessica Bohl in You Are Alone was the greatest unknown casting find of all time, but Bechard and McGarry somehow managed to find a half dozen unknowns as talented as Bohl. Don't know how, just hope it continues. But really, once you get to Owen on his knees -- oh, damn, the dirty thoughts again -- suggesting that he and Chloe add some benefits to their friendship, well, the movie soars, it flies, and before you know it you're wiping a few tears from your eyes right before the end credits roll, then laughing again when an early joke finally receives its punch line AFTER the end credits. Yes, I am a fan of Gorman Bechard. And though he really only seems to have a cult following, those that get his work truly "get it". The reviews of Alone or Psychos here on IMDb, or the reviews of his novels on Amazon prove that. One day the world will know what us few already do, Bechard knows how to tell a story, how to make you think, care, laugh, cry, how to turn you on. He's the best kept secret in the entertainment world. Friends With Benefits is just another great example of that. To paraphrase Chloe, it rocked!

• Sex comedy with raunch and heart

  Anne-Shulock-12009-07-28

  I recently saw this movie at the Sacramento Film and Music Festival, and thought it was great! The movie centers on a group of six friends in their early 20s, and the various sexual combinations you can get from three women and three men. (One kind of silly distraction: of the six main actors, all of whom were good, one looked like Melissa Joan Hart, one looked like Mark Paul Gosselaar, and one looked like Adrian Grenier.) I went back and forth on whether the touting of the movie as "A novel with moving pictures" and the use of chapter headings with cutesy titles was annoying or helpful, but I think I liked it, because the movie isn't a straightforward romantic comedy. It's composed of bits and pieces-- confessional-type scenes with a therapist ("Dick Weed"), split screens, music montages (the main character is in a band), flashbacks (the requisite senior prom), a fast scrolling of one character's rules for living. Plus plenty of talking about sex and then sex and then dealing with the aftermath. Sure, there were some clichés, but the movie felt surprisingly fresh. Plus, the two leads had great chemistry. One part I didn't feel was as successful was the treatment of parents--only one set of parents makes it on screen, and it's an overbearing father pressuring his son. That relationship didn't seem to have the nuance and creativity of the friends' relationships. For a low-budget movie, it looked and sounded lush (nice music, too). If you have the chance to see Friends (with Benefits), I'd highly recommend it. Just maybe go with someone who you'll be comfortable sharing a raunchy evening with.

• Decent film about a group of friends struggling with the decision to become "more"

  Higgs12010-04-11

  Just watched this film in a really cool little "hole in the wall" theater and it was an enjoyable time. The movie revolves around a tight group of 6 friends struggling trying to balance school studies, work, personal lives, and sex lives. It's a story I'm sure a lot of people can relate too, not enough time to build relationships with strangers and wanting something more out of friendships without making them awkward and undesirable. This film does a nice job of getting right to the point of the movie, however more character build up would have been nice to build a better back story. When the group starts engaging in casual sex with each other their true feelings start to show through and the drama ensues. The movie was a good time, but not something I would go back for second helpings. A solid rental or netflix, but nothing more. Would like to see the longer director's cut for some more of the back story, other than that I'm all set with seeing this again.

• all the components

  thinmanmusic2009-07-03

  So we settle in for a romantic/comic/sex farce kinda film and going in I'm in the pocket and the wife is on the fence. But guess what? We laughed, we were touched by the sensitivity between the laughs and in the end-I got laid! It's the perfect date movie. The photography is surprisingly lush for an indie film. The use of split screens never gets confusing or trite. The dialog is fast paced but just fast enough- funny jokes within jokes-let's just say I'm enthused.I want to quit my job to follow that rock band on tour- but maybe bring them a couple of songs.Or maybe it's just that I want to follow Chloe wherever she goes. Bechard has hit his artistic stride with this film.I'm hoping his treatment of "2nd Greatest Story" will be up to these standards- he's set his bar very high.

• Oh Come On, Money For This.

  hjames-978222015-09-10

  They all showed up and the photography itself is good. After that, they lost me. How many more time will we have to see this same boring scenario of friends hooking up and then getting emotionally wrecked? It's just been done like this too many times. The acting is very wooden in spots. The lighting often looks like film school students were on the crew. I watched this because I am Brendan Bradley fan. But even my main man's good efforts could not save this. (I did appreciate the one of him nude. Check out his performance in "Redwoods.." Outstanding.) This thing is nothing special.