One of the great ironies of love is that love and like are not related.  Love is not a more intense version of like.  Love is something different altogether, so much so that friends rarely get to be lovers, while former lovers rarely end up as friends. 

Just Friends is a comedy about a late bloomer with a moment of opportunity.  Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds) had feelings for high-school hottie, Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart).  Overweight and uncool, he kept his feelings to himself until one day, when his secret came out and Jamie's "just friends" reply left him devastated.  Now he's a successful record producer - skinny and cool - working the unwritten rules of the dating game.  Rule #1?  Don't ever be "the friend."

All this comes up for a second look when Chris ends up back in his hometown.  This gives him a chance to confront the locals who teased and taunted him through high school.  But does he want to take the same approach with Amy, who is still single and suddenly interested in the "new and improved" - version of himself?

Now that the tables are turned, and it's Amy - who is still in that small town, living back home with her parents - Chris has the ability to do to her what she did to him.  But why dump her straight out?  When he bumps into her at the local watering hole, Chris gives her a chance to ask him out.  But when she asks him to lunch - what he calls a "day date" - Chris decides to treat Amy the way all her jerky boyfriends did when they were in high school.  He thinks it will make her want him all the more - and if so, he can then decide whether to take her back or simply drop her like a rock.

But what does he do when, after turning her off, he realizes he still has feelings for her?

The rest of Just Friends consists of Chris's attempts to make things right - but without turning into the vulnerable guy whose heart got crushed so many years before.  This is a film with two achilles heels: First, its plot predictability comes straight from the recycling department.  Even if "friend issues" were in popculture circulation when the film was released, this kind of Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion stuff is familiar stuff.  A more vivid, visually intense and satisfying version of the "coming home" film is Zach Braff's Garden State.  The other problem is the sitcom dialogue, which is full of cute exchanges that suck on TV and suck even more in a movie.  Predictable plotlines and lame banter are really the stuff of television, making this film an easy target for denunciation.

But it doesn't rain every day and this film certainly isn't all bad.  While everything said up to this point is no less true, one virtue of this film is the physical comedy, which is sometimes so good, you'll pee your pants.  If the witty banter is routinely annoying, Ryan's pratfalls are choice.  The film's marquee shows Ryan posing in a fatsuit (Why not just have him show up in black face?) but, in terms of comedic action, this film has impeccable timing.  There's a scene where Samantha James (Anna Faris), the singer he's schmoozing, shows up to Jamie's house and pulls down the Christmas lights and all the displays.  How it happens is visually stunning.  So is an enjoyable scene where Chris - in an attempt to restore his image with Jamie - shows up at a children's hockey game, but then loses it in a moment of hypercompetitive meltdown.

The visual gags in this film make up for the verbal ones that misfire on a regular basis.

If I had a choice of films to watch in the Home for the Holidays genre, I'd go with Garden State.  This film, however, has its moments.  Look for an unusually strong performance from Chris Klein as Dusty Lee Dinkleman, another high-school loser who now uses his status as a paramedic to his his real identity as a player. 

This film's secret weapon is Amy Smart who is more than just pretty.  Smart has an honest face, conjuring up memories of Cameron Diaz in There's Something About Mary.  Her 'straight man" seriousness grounds the story, allowing the comedy to be unpredictable and that much more effective.  Based on a me-too script by Adam "Tex" Davis (Spring Break Lawyer, Gardener of Eden), and helmed by director Roger Crumble (Cruel Intensions 1 and 2, The Sweetest Thing, College Road Trip), this is a lightweight comedy whose visual humor holds it together.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older