3 stars (out of 5)
By R. Kurt Osenlund
With the foul-mouthed dramedy Friends with Kids, writer/producer/director/star Jennifer Westfeldt is juggling so much, it's a wonder there aren't more jokes about balls. Depending on your tastes, odds are you'll find something to like here, at least for a little while. Positioning Westfeldt as Julie, longtime best friend and neighbor of fellow Manhattanite Jason (Adam Scott), the script kicks off with a whole lot of sitcom lingo, like BFF conversation starters that are really just gun-on-the-mantle quips, bound to be recycled and fired off again later ("Death by shark or crocodile?" Julie asks during a late-night phone call). As the minutes—of which Julie is ever-conscious—tick by, the duo's banter becomes a lot of hollow, retro ping-pong, the speedy delivery and sentence-finishing apparently stylized to evoke the best of Cary Grant. And then the chit-chat veers modern, covering odds and ends presumed to be important to New Yorkers of a certain age, and including enough profanity to maintain that edgy, in-vogue R rating.
1 comment:
Entertaining movie with solid cast, overall a ticket to the fun zone...
Movies don't need to be artsy, characters don't all need to be perfect, and actors don't need to be Oscar winners for you to enjoy a film. Just Friends, the new release starring Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Christopher Marquette, and Chris Klein, is a suprisingly funny and enjoyable movie that is worth a rental for a fun evening.
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