Just Friends - C

Just Friends is a comedy that never really takes off. While it certainly has its funny moments, the picture fails to put a stamp on its flavor. Is it a Jackass type of comedy with raw, vulgar scenes or a romantic comedy like You’ve Got Mail? Truth is, it’s a little bit of both.

Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds) is a good-looking, lean LA music executive, who 10 years ago was a fat, shy, pimple-faced kid. In high school in Jersey, the only thing he had going for him was his friendship with Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart), whom Chris harbored deep relationship-type feelings for. His secret was revealed at their graduation party when Chris wrote a heart-felt love note in Jamie’s yearbook, which was read to the entire party crowd by the school bully. Embarrassed, Chris attempts to leave, but is met by Jamie, who informs Chris he is the best friend ever, placing him in the dreaded friend zone. Chris used this friend zone 10 years later to mold his player skills. As a big time executive, Chris scores with any woman he so desires. The movie takes a strange twist when Chris is instructed to escort a Jessica Simpson type, Samantha James (Anna Faris), to Paris. Samantha mistakenly puts silverware in the microwave, forcing the plane to land in New Jersey. Chris takes Sam to his childhood home, where he hadn’t been since he graduated. At the local watering hole, he runs into Jamie and thinks he can impress her with his big-important life. To the contrary, she was insulted and missed the old Chris. There on, he tried to win Jamie over. But he has a little competition in the form of another former dork, Dusty (Chris Klein), who once had the face of a pepperoni pizza and also sported a crush on Jamie. Now, the enemy was a smooth talking, handsome guitar player who served as an EMT.

From there, the movie becomes extremely predictable. Chris does everything in his power to get Jamie and he slowly loses the fight to Dusty, who Chris learns has bad intentions. The funniest scenes are of Chris and his brother. They fight like their still in their teens. And the brother admits to Samantha that he visits his member daily while fantasizing over her poster that reveals much of Sam’s skin. He nearly gets his dream come true when Samantha was in need of a little attention. But Chris enters the bedroom just as the brother applies oils to Samantha.

This is certainly not Ryan Reynolds best performance and the director, Ryan Kumble, seems to struggle with the film’s direction. Just Friends will be one of those movies forgotten 10 years from now. But, Reynolds is a good actor and he will make another hit, like Van Wilder, that will be watched for years to come.