‘No Strings Attached’ offers standard romantic comedy genre conventions, likeable but forgettable

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The premise of a “friends with benefits” relationship that is corrupted by the individuals involved falling for each other seemed like a nice spin on the romantic comedy.

However with little character development and a barrage of toilet humor just for the sake of being racy, “No Strings Attached” falls immediately behind some much better films.

The direction is well handled by Ivan Reitman of Ghostbusters fame, but he does not seem to be able to truly knock it out of the park without Bill Murray around. Though, even the worst directed of Reitman’s film is still very competently handled.

Everything feels worse than just going through the motions; it feels very similar to a film from 2008, “(500) Days of Summer.”

The two films are very similar (right down to the flipping numbers notating what time the scene takes place in. But where the latter had the bravery to break convention, “No Strings Attached” seems to be a relaxation exercise for Natalie Portman (playing Emma) after what will most likely be an Oscar winning performance in last year’s fantastic “Black Swan.”

Ashton Kutcher (Adam) yet again plays a snarky heartthrob with no real range. Kutcher is likeable the way every romantic comedy hero is likeable: he has no flaws, a perfect body and is 100 percent committed to monogamy.

Portman is given a chance to show the type of range she has before, but instead remains emotionally distant and volatile until an unbelievable revelation is made as to what made her this way. The revelation involves a family member’s death, which does not make any sense because of the opening of the film where we see the two protagonists as children and Emma is still as cut off from emotions.

There are some very funny lines delivered by the supporting cast throughout the film. These characters seem to exist just to deliver these lines, though. None of the characters are really fleshed out at all.

Added to the wasted talent is Kevin Kline who plays Adam’s famous actor father,

Alvin. Alvin spends the movie smoking pot, awkwardly talking to his son about sex, drinking and invading his sons sex life in other ways. All of this is meant to build why Adam is such a loving human being, but none of it really works except for a quick laugh.

However, if you are looking for just some simple laughs and a forgettable premise (and perhaps a quick look at Ashton Kutcher’s butt) than this film has its moments. It succeeds in creating likeable characters, just not memorable ones.