NO STRINGS ATTACHED ★★★ OUT OF FOUR STARS
Rated: R for sexual content, language and some drug material.
Ivan Reitman -- whose directing career ("Ghostbusters") is so long in the tooth that he actually has a son, Jason, directing Oscar-worthy comedies -- has his best outing in decades with "No Strings Attached," an amusing flip of the "friends with benefits" romantic comedy formula.
It's a movie benefiting from another sparkling and sexy performance by Natalie Portman, some clever turns in situations and witty banter that isn't shy about crossing over into "Hangover"-level raunchy.
Super-smart Emma met hunky-needy Adam at summer camp, way back when, and they had a momentary fling. Ten years later, they meet again and the pretty, flirty Emma (Portman) invites Adam to "this thing" she has to go to. It's her dad's funeral. But dopey-handsome Adam (Ashton Kutcher, NOT cast against type) doesn't hear the "She's cut off from her emotions" warning bells. Another chance encounter years later leads to an exchange of phone numbers.
And then, that magical night when the boy drunk-dials the girl and something begins. But don't call it a thoroughly modern romance. Emma, now an MIT-trained doctor, won't have that. She's busy. She's guarded. And she's interested in sex -- somebody "in my bed at 2 a.m." -- and nothing more.
They have their romps, but snuggling and the like -- real intimacy -- scares her off. So for Adam, the chase is on.
Portman, almost certainly an Oscar nominee if not winner for "Black Swan," carries this movie with her warmth and her wicked way with an incredibly crude come-on. Kutcher is better at bringing the funny than in carrying the emotional weight. Reitman didn't suddenly evolve into a warmer, deeper filmmaker, either.
ROGER MOORE, ORLANDO SENTINEL