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Back Shelf Beauties
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Just Friends Ryan Reynolds is starting to be like that boyfriend or girlfriend you keep believing in, but keeps disappointing you. All of my movie critic friends mock me and tell me he's nothing but trouble, yet, I keep seeing something in him they don't. Sadly, it's getting harder and harder to stand by Ryan, when he keeps making movies like Just Friends. Reynolds stars as Chris Burgh - a man who was fat while in high school, but, in the 10 years since, lost the weight and became an unapologetic ladies man. Now, working as a record company executive, he has to accompany a Paris Hilton-like burgeoning rock star wannabe and former fling, Samantha James (Anna Farris), to Paris for Christmas to convince her to sign with his label. The flight is forced to land in New Jersey near Chris's hometown, so he takes the opportunity to see his family and catch up with former best friend forever, Jamie (Amy Smart). All through high school, Chris pined away for the beautiful pal, but she never thought of the big guy as more than just friends, and he left town in disgrace never to return in those ten years since. Now, he's a stud and wants to win Jamie over the way he couldn't in high school. Is it true love for Chris and Jamie? Are his intentions pure of heart? Can he stand the competition for Jamie's affections? Just Friends misses the mark by trying to be too many things to too many potential ticket buyers. On the one hand, it's a funny romantic comedy and story of redemption about a guy trying to win over the woman of his dreams after years of disappointment, but facing several obstacles along the way. On the other hand, it wants to be a raucous, Farelly brothers-style gross out comedy with some rude humor and bad behavior thrown in for good measure. On yet another hand, Just Friends is shaped to be a Bill Murray-like comedy where one smooth customer has to slalom through the wackiness to get what he wants. The movie runs out of hands and suffers as the various plots twist all around each other to choke the movie of its heart and laughs. Writer Adam Davis and director Roger Kumble have two good plots going for them. First, Chris's pursuit of his dream woman is funny when it's heartfelt and he suffers from the same lack of confidence and clumsiness he thought he stripped away over the past ten years. It's a sweet, funny story, but gets confused as Chris has to battle another suitor and often makes the pursuit of Jamie seem more like a contest to capture a trophy instead of true love. Second, the subplot about Samantha Jones and her outrageous behavior is funny. Farris lets it all hang out to various degrees of success as Samantha comes off as the dimmest bulb in the bunch completely free of manners and self-control. She provides some welcome comic relief and complications, but is one of too many attempts at comic relief and complications. The second suitor might have been funnier if he wasn't too much like another character in the movie (I'll try not to say too much about this to keep the mystery alive for those who want to see Just Friends), and the relationship between Chris and his brother is funny, but peppered with too much brother-on-brother violence. Sadly, all of this leaves Reynolds to carry on and attempt to make the movie better than what's in the script. As I mentioned, I do think Reynolds is a good actor who needs to find better roles, but this wasn't what I had in mind. He excels as the cold hearted, smoother than silk predator, and has a Bill Murray-like ability to be a funny wise guy with the under the breath comment or one-liner as others act idiotically around him, but he has too much trouble giving Chris some heart when he's the fat kid in high school. Instead of finding some redeeming quality and nobility in the lovelorn young man who faces sure rejection as he tries to come clean about his true feelings, Reynolds makes him into a cartoonish stereotype. I'm sure some or most of this can be blamed on Kumble and Davis as they try to get Reynolds to make the script and scenes funnier than written with some cheap antics, but it comes off as mean, which is not an appropriate way to meet the character who should and can be the hero of the movie. Just Friends could have been a moving story about the underdog overcoming insurmountable odds, but it just misses the mark. 2Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2005 - WaffleMovies.com
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