Just Friends

Amazing. Still no review of this?

Oh well, this looks like a job for "The Saxonator"

I saw this in Newcastle at a time when I was expecting to be doing some heavy lifting helping my sister move house, so having a good sit down to a comedy scored bonus points right from the off. I would have dropped the points a little because of all the teenage kids in the audience, but they were actually pretty well behaved, and I did "accidentally" kick one of the noisier ones in the back, thought his seat, so that was nice.

The film:

On one hand it is a formulaic rom-com (yeargh!) film, but on the other hand it does try to break away from the norm and succeeds in many places.

Things in it's favour are:

Ryan Reynolds looks hilarious in a fat suit. If his facial expressions when he's singing don't have you at least giggling like a schoolgirl, then I'm sorry but you are clinically dead.

Amy Smart looks sexy, but also looks like someone that you could actually get a date with.

Anna Faris plays psychotic girlfriend so well, it's scary. She also managed to do a semi-decent Britney impression. Which is probably scarier.

Story: Fat Chris Brander (Ryan) has been best mates with Jamie Palamino (Amy) for years, but can't ask her out. So he writes how he feels in her yearbook, but wouldn't you guess it, there's a mix up and the private heart pouring message gets read by the school jerk to a huge party full of drunk teenagers. Chris then runs off, goes on the Subway diet and becomes a highly successful record producer. He has to sign Samantha James (Anna Faris), the most untalented singer ever, but she sets fire to the personal jet and they make an emergency landing in his old home town.

The film then shows the various ways he tries to woo Jamie, while trying to keep Samantha out of the picture.

In the course of this, there's:

• Taser slap-stick.
• Love Rivalry.
• A cringing ice-hockey game.
• The "Volvo vs Christmas ornaments" scene.
• And a lesson on why never to leave your Porche's windows open in a New Jersey winter.

Score: 8/10 because I needed a good laugh and this film delivered. One bonus point for Ryan Reynolds in the fat suit and one for the kid in front of me going "Ow! What the fudge?¹"

OQ: "And I swear. By the moon and the stars and the sky...." (Trust me, in a fat suit and wearing a retainer, this is hilarious.)

¹Yeah you're right, he didn't actually say 'fudge'.