No Strings Attached" Movie Trailer Review

"No Strings Attached"

Movie Trailer Review

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

In an effort to forget how great Natalie Portman can be, we're given a last-minute piece of Christmas coal in the trailer for her upcoming film, "No Strings Attached."

Ashton Kutcher (warning signs should already be blaring) plays a quiet, womanizing production assistant who has sex with his best friend, played by Natalie Portman. The two lay ground rules but, low and behold, they fall for each other and, as you can guess, things get complicated.

There's not much more to say about the trailer itself. You know what you're getting into when you pay for a movie like "No Strings Attached." They'll be some innuendo, embarrassment and a happy ending, where Kutcher and Portman live out their fantasy of being "something more than friends with benefits." It's like a Jane Austen novel without the charm, eloquence and respectability.

But Kutcher should be used to these roles by now, so we can depend on him and Portman to deliver us a piece of genre fluff with confidence, right? That’s what’s so perplexing about this trailer--all of these decent actors are so unsure of themselves. It’s like amateur hour. Kutcher whispers each comment to a cold, monotone Portman, before they make nice with a hardy laugh and an awkward embrace. Ludacris seems more comfortable and he's wearing a baby blue Polo shirt.

Super producer Ivan Reitman is at the helm, which hasn't been a good thing for years. His last outing, "My Super Ex-girlfriend," tanked and with a 10-year back catalogue of films like "Father's Day," "Evolution," and "Junior," we probably shouldn't get too excited for his supposed return to Ghostbusting either.

“No String’s Attached” is set for a January 21 release, meaning the studio thought this one unfit for Valentine’s Day -- not exactly a vote of confidence. Pass.

View the trailer below.  Thoughts?