As painful as it sounds, I can't in good conscience blame Ashton Kutcher for this stupid excuse for a "romcom." Kutcher plays Adam and Natalie Portman is Emma. As the title gives the plot away, instead of a romantic relationship, Emma forces (?) Adam to just have sex with her and this is the comedy ... I guess. Though, Ivan Reitman takes no chances and brings in rapper Chris Ludacris Bridges, Kevin Kline (yes that Kevin) ... but what's the point? Not a total waste of time but really damn near close. I would only give it two stars because some people might find some material here funny. This film definitely proves that comedy is incredibly hard and that Kutcher and Portman just aren't good in these kinds of things.
But unfortunately one can't leave the issue at Portman making a perhaps unwise choice. No. She is the executive producer of this monster and deserves some serious ass-raping. Presumably the thinking of Team Portman was to make Natalie really no longer a good girl and push her to some silly porn girl extreme. But several sad problems arise - for anyone daring to look close - even at the visual level. NATALIE LOOKS OLD!! So making her into old porn whore just feels creepy. Another problem is that this oversexed persona is too silly to maintain seriously - and, in any case, no real nudity appears here. But to be fair, I found her being naked in Closer just as laughable and overdone.
Presumably, there is a story that can have Natalie Portman naked (and apparently she WANTS to be naked) and we can see her and not laugh, cry, or wince. But this disgusting excuse that she helped bring to the screen - and made money from - surely isn't it. Too clever by half and over-marketed in the extreme. Not one of the worst sex comedies but perhaps a classic in the top forty.
Production year: 2011
Country: USA
Runtime: 108 mins
Directors: Ivan Reitman
Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Cary Elwes, Chris Ludacris Bridges, Greta Gerwig, Jake M Johnson, Kevin Kline, Lake Bell, Natalie Portman, Talia Balsam
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