I was expecting worse, partly influenced by the mixed reviews. But as a fan of Portman, it would be a crime to give “No Strings Attached” a miss. I do not love her less after watching this romance comedy. Natalie Portman remains as a versatile and witty actress. And she has good chemistry with the leading actor Ashton Kutcher. It is unfortunate that the script is less than inspiring. Is it the scriptwriter’s fault? Or is it because some of us cannot relate to the topic of casual sex? A few minutes into the show, a younger version of Portman tells a younger version of Kutcher that she does not believe in loving someone forever. Shortly after, a younger version of Kutcher shyly asks, “Can I finger you?” That pretty much set the tone – script-wise – on where this film is heading.
Less than inspiring script aside, “No String Attached” does have its fun side. I found myself laughing lightly throughout the movie. Portman plays a doctor who has little time for romance. And here comes Kutcher whom Portman has seen occasionally over the last 15 years, who agrees to be her friend with ‘benefit’. You can’t really read too deep into the story because you can more or less predict where it is heading, as in most of the romance comedies. If there is one takeaway point, that would be: being in love could be painful but it is better to feel love than living a life without. In today’s Singapore, this seems to be so relevant. Especially when we finally realize that the root cause of the falling birth rate could well be people not falling in love enough to get married.
Now that we have watched “No Strings Attached”, after that phenomenal “Black Swan“, I am looking forward to watching “Thor”. Yet another movie with Natalie Portman in it.