July 23, In a nice cool coffee shop in the otherwise broilingly hot south, the Film Doctor's significant other B has kindly agreed to be interviewed about Friends with Benefits. She enjoyed the movie much more than I did. B: Are you asking that philosophically, or are you are just asking what the movie says on this issue?
This is not an issue of whether two people can sleep together and not fall in love, but more about the nature of love itself. The movie plays with the idea that there is some sort of perfect romance that can happen miraculously between two people, but then ultimately suggests that this kind of "true love" scenario is bogus. Individuals in "friends with benefits" relationships can be more honest and open with each other. Thus, they have a real relationship even as they continuously look for something that they imagine is better, even though it would be fake.
An example would be when Mila's character Jamie talks to Dylan Timberlake about other relationships, she says "I don't have any body issues with you because I'm not trying to impress you. B: The movie suggests that friendship is the only way to have a genuine relationship. People discount "booty call" relationships, but they can be more honest because you are not trying to impress anybody. B: Jamie and Dylan have a genuine relationship, but they call it something else. I'd say they are still friends with benefits, but by the end of the movie, they simply recognize the value of that arrangement.
FD: Okay. Question number 2. Can one find any depth in a film like Friends with Benefits? B: I think the movie gets at the heart of the problem of people waiting for things to happen in some kind of glorified way. In essence, in these sort of "wait for the big moment" sort of situations, your life actually happens to you when you are waiting for something better to come along. While Jamie and Dylan hang out with each other, they are actually having the important romance they want. B: Yes.
Meanwhile, in Jamie's quest for a "perfect" romance, she throws up arbitrary designations about when it's OK to sleep with a new dream guy--five dates. In that scenario, she presents a challenge to the doctor she's dating Bryan Greenberg ; as soon as he meets this challenge, he's ready to dump her. Thus, these kind of romances lead to nothing, because they are fake.
