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Friends with Benefits
Friends with Benefits Image
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Metascore
63 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 37 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.6 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 161 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Starring: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Patricia Clarkson
  • Summary: A young female headhunter in New York convinces a potential recruit to accept a job in the Big Apple. Despite an attraction to each other, both realize they're everything they've been running from in a relationship and decide to see what happens if they leave emotion out of it and keep it strictly physical. (Sony Pictures) … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 37
  3. Negative: 2 out of 37
  1. New Orleans Times-Picayune
    Reviewed by: Mike Scott
    Jul 22, 2011
    88
    The result isn't just the best new romantic comedy released so far this year, but one of the best comedies, period.
  2. Empire
    Reviewed by: Anna Smith
    Sep 5, 2011
    60
    This coasts along just fine thanks to charm and comical interludes, but it fails to deliver the sassy story it promises. Fine for a romantic comedy, but an inferior follow up to director Gluck's edgier "Easy A."
  3. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Andrew Schenker
    Jul 21, 2011
    38
    For a film that had once made some pretense toward exposing such dangerously submissive attitudes toward Hollywood romance, Friends with Benefits's conclusion can't help but seem more than a wee bit disingenuous.

See all 37 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 45 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 55
  3. Negative: 6 out of 55
  1. CorneliaL
    7
    This will inevitably draw comparisons to No Strings Attached (the Ashton Kutcher-Natalie Portman pals-doing-the-nasty comedy from earlier this year), so let's just get one thing out of the way: FWB is actually kinda GOOD, unlike NSA. Here's what's good about it: Witty, sharp dialogue that's well delivered, great chemistry between the actors, good acting, engaging side characters and side plots. The actors and their characters are likable. The ride is enjoyable and has just enough seriousness to give the plot weight and make the characters not seem like vapid singletons living in a New York bubble. Also, the jokes are funny and often smart, without being snooty. The pacing is also good, although I'll be honest and say it loses some momentum towards the end. It's predictable enough, as all romantic comedies ultimately are (and isn't that why we see them?) so think of this movie as more about than the journey than the destination.… Expand
    • 3 of 3 users said yes
  2. Dongangstar
    5
    Deja-vue -> go check 'No strings attached'. These movies are very similar, too bad. About the acting, it was ok, Mila Kunis did a good job, Justin Timberlake as well, even though I think, these people aren't going to be very great actors, especially not in drama movies. Anyway, if you like to see a predictible, unoriginal movie, go take a look, - put your expectations low, so you can enjoy the romance of the story.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. Sgaldo
    2
    Wow, these Metacritic scores are nuts. Some movies are rated so low and I love them, while movies like this one have positive ratings and they are horrible. This is a terrible movie. It actually picks up a bit at the end, but wow, the majority is plain bad. The dialogue in this movie is the worst. Who wrote these terrible lines. They were just not funny. It's as if they were trying to sound cool by making the characters spew racey banter, but the lines simply were not funny. I'm a fan of Timberlake because I admire how he went from Disney to a ridiculous boy band, to then becoming a respectable solo artist and then a talented actor. Mila is just plain HOT. So I went in here thinking that I would enjoy this movie. WRONG! I am always amazed at how movies like this get favorable reviews. I guess there's no accounting for taste. Be warned.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 55 User Reviews

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