With the recent theatrical release of Thor and home releases of The Other Woman and No Strings Attached, I’ve been on kind of a Natalie kick this week (if only I had gotten to see Hesher when I had the chance). My thoughts on the first two are very similar to Dazza’s and others, so they’re not too verbose. I’ll start with the good.

Despite my initial lack of interest and skepticism, this is the first of Natalie’s films I’ve bothered to see at the theater since Black Swan and I’d say it was worth the ticket price. Entertaining, though incredibly silly. Much like Iron Man, Thor is saved by its lighthearted tone and likable, talented cast. Natalie is adorable here and like many others have said, you can see why Jane was so instantly attracted to Thor. I think I might have a crush on Chris Hemsworth now, tbh.

3/5

Not bad but nothing special. Much like I suspected, it felt like a well-acted Lifetime Original Movie with higher production values. Like Daz, I was kind of confused by all of the talk about Natalie’s character being unlikable. Aside from Emilia’s aggressive pursuit of a married man and the unbelievable hypocrisy towards her father, I just didn’t get it, especially in contrast to Lisa Kudrow’s character (who came off more as a caricature than a real person). Her wryness cut nicely into all of the melodrama.

3/5

Note: Those expecting the scenes edited from the original theatrical cut shown at TIFF 2009 to be included on the home release will be disappointed. I can’t speak for the DVD, but the Blu-ray disc is sadly bare bones, with only a trailer as an extra.

And now the bad.

I know a lot of people are big fans of this one, but I didn’t get the love at all. I found it tiresome, sappy, and lame. And I watched with an open mind and low expectations. For a movie touted as “original” and advertized as a sex comedy (a watered-down one perhaps?), it certainly leaned hard on every tired, worn out romantic comedy trope in the book. There is nothing new presented here aside from a role reversal. As briskly paced as it was, it didn’t take long for boredom to set in. There were some genuinely amusing moments, but mostly it was weird and clumsy where it wanted to be quirky and cute. There was even some unintentional irony in Emma’s drunken pumpkin rant, considering how caked with bronzer and makeup Natalie was throughout the entire movie.

Natalie was one of the bright spots in the movie. Despite the fact her character was the typical neurotic romcom heroine, it was a nice departure from her serious, dramatic roles. It’s just a shame she didn’t have more opportunities to cut loose (and her character regressed into yet another flaky, drippy, binge-eating stereotype). I could have done without Ashton Kutcher, but I doubt a more skilled actor could have made the material any better. And why even cast actors like Mindy Kaling, Greta Gerwig, etc. if you’re not going to give them anything worthwhile to do?

I’m probably being too hard on a silly romantic comedy, but unless you’re a fan of the genre, this is a total waste of time.

2/5