Just Forgettable

Ryan Reynolds is trying hard not to be typecast. He's also failing hard. He tried to reinvent himself as an action star in Blade: Trinity (2004) and it didn't work. He tried reinventing himself as a horror film star in Amittyville Horror (2005) and it didn't work. And now with Just Friends he is trying to reinvent himself as a romantic comedy star and sadly I must report it doesn't work. I think he's running out of ways to reinvent himself.

Reynolds plays a formerly fat nerdy, now cool and thin, recording industry big wig who by accident ends up back in his hometown for Christmas discovering his old feelings for his high school friend played by Amy Smart. The problem is at no point do they seem even remotely compatible. I even questioned why they would have been friends in the first place. And when Reynolds returns and attempts to act as a jerk then a nice sensitive guy, I was more baffled.

And why Amy Smart's character ends up giving him a second chance is beyond my comprehension. I was racking my mind trying to figure out why she would have done that based on the character so far represented. The movie has all the stupid humor you might expect. Little kids beating up adults, taser jokes and fat guy jokes which all play to the lowest common denominator. But suprisingly it did have two stand outs.

The first was Anna Farris as a bubble gum pop princess. She plays the dumb weird "but I'm an artist" character to a t and it is funny most of the time she is on screen. Her best moment may be when they walk into a crowded New Jersey bar and she acts as if she is being ogled and hawked over even though not one person is actually looking at her. Scenes like that were some of the only redeemable moments in the entire film.

The other refreshing character was that played by Julie Hagerty of Airplane! (1980) fame, who played Reynold's characters mom. She isn't on screen very much but when she was I laughed and it made me want to go home and watch Airplane!. Chris Klein plays the competition who turns out to be scum because god forbid in a romance the competition actually be someone worthy of the girl. How would the hero win the day if he couldn't prove he was the better man by virtue of the fact that he proves to be right about the scumminess of the other guy. From setup to conclusion Just Friends was and is entirely forgettable except for a few memorable scenes with Anna Farris which were just filler anyway.