Flight

Aghast as I was to be greeted by a female full frontal within 20 seconds of tucking into my popcorn, it was in fact the characters, not the content that really let Flight down for me. Sure, the film does drag in places, and at more than two and a quarter hours it is a little over-long which seriously doesn't help, but the biggest downer in the whole thing is in fact the lead character, which despite taking the shape of Denzel Washington, takes more than a fair amount of effort to like even remotely. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective), that seems to be nothing to do with Denzel's acting, which as usual is brilliantly solid, but does mean that it's rather a trial to keep caring. That, and with yet more gratuitous shots of injections proving yet again that Hollywood cares little about those of us with trypanophobia (yes, that's a real thing), Flight fails to really make an impact in quite the right way.

Friends With Benefits

I'm not convinced that many romantic comedies will justify themselves 4 stars in one of my reviews, but 'Friends With Benefits' is determined from the start on not being your conventional rom-com. Whilst that intention is admirable; following a couple with a strictly no-strings-attached relationship for the expressed purpose of avoiding the Hollywood film clichés, it's also predictably unrealistic, and the storyline rapidly settles into the familiar 'meet-argue-reunite' routine that we're all so used to.

That said, 'FWB' (as all the cool kids call it) does still have a lot offer on it's "atypical rom-com" promise. For a start, the comedy is very genuine, and evident throughout. Whilst the majority of the truly good lines are saved for Woody Harrelson's infrequent appearances as the outrageously gay sports editor of GQ, there is more than enough wit left over for Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, who both prove to be more than capable in comic delivery. We're not talking belly-laugh territory here, but there are certainly numerous laugh out loud (I believe the kids use lol) moments throughout. As a result, the film really doesn't take itself seriously in the least (though admittedly that would be difficult to do, given that its sole objective was to parody its own genre) which makes it all the more enjoyable.

Don't you just hate it when you can't find a shirt to cover your washboard abs after having sex? Happens to me every ruddy weekend.

Outside of triumphing over the dark comedic arts of timing and delivery, the entire cast are very strong. One of the most compelling things on-screen is the genuine chemistry between Timberlake and Kunis. Aided of course by a great script, they play off each other masterfully, and really carry the film between them. Seeing Justin spend a significant period of time with his shirt off will always help as well, but generally it's the rapport thing.

Overall then, though the traditional romantic comedy recipe of predictability, cliché and implausible storyline wins through, 'Friends With Benefits' does enough to give it back an edge. Being genuinely funny helps (especially when some of it's rom-com cousins really do stretch the meaning of the genre), but ultimately it's a bit of an ensemble piece that wins it the extra stars. Well... and Justin's body.