On the Big Board |
Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
10/25 |
Max Braden |
Ryan Reynolds is great. Funny all the way through. |
36/166 |
David Mumpower |
Anna Faris steals an already decent film with a hysterical send-up of pop divas. |
45/60 |
Les Winan |
Better than it should be, still pretty scattered. Anna Faris rules. |
Dating in high school is rough. And just in case you’ve forgotten how horrendous it was, Hollywood is more than happy to remind you with a plethora of films highlighting the endless agonies of trying to navigate the choppy waters of adolescent romance during high school and the lifelong traumas still being worked through by 20-somethings and 30-somethings many years later.
Case in point is Just Friends. This tale of high school love-gone-wrong follows a successful record executive who is an inveterate womanizer. Turns out he became a cad when the object of his teenage hormonal urges...uh, make that “crush” rejected his overtures, giving him that dreaded line about just being friends. And as Fate - or at least Hollywood’s version thereof - would have it, he meets the former girl-of-his-dreams many years and many broken female hearts down the line, and realizes she is his one true love. Unfortunately, his soul-mate still views him in a decidedly platonic manner, but he vows to win her heart now that he has a second chance, all the while fending off the advances of women who are actually interested in him, including one of his own pop-tarts.
Romantic comedies can be tricky to pull off, even for those with experience in the genre. The fact that the pedigrees of the director, writer and male lead fall more into the gross-out teen comedy and angsty teen drama genres may be some cause for concern, but with a good script, the right chemistry between the leads and that certain je ne sais quoi that is essential to the alchemy of the rom-com, Just Friends could bring all involved to the forefront of the genre, and the next generation of rom-com superstars could emerge. (Stephanie Star Smith/BOP)
Comparison films for Just Friends |
Title |
Date |
Opening |
Adjusted Opening |
Screens |
PSA |
Adj PSA |
Total BO |
Adjusted Total |
Mult |
Someone Like You |
3/30/01 | 10.01 |
10.68 |
2345 |
4269.00 |
4382.3 |
27.23 |
29.06 |
2.72 |
Little Black Book |
8/6/04 | 7.08 |
7.08 |
2445 |
2893.75 |
2893.8 |
20.42 |
20.42 |
0.00 |
Down With Love |
5/16/03 | 7.00 |
7.00 |
2123 |
3298.00 |
3298.0 |
20.30 |
20.30 |
2.89 |
Alfie |
11/5/04 | 6.22 |
6.22 |
2215 |
2807.37 |
2807.4 |
13.40 |
13.40 |
0.00 |
Sideways |
10/22/04 | 0.21 |
0.21 |
4 |
51760.50 |
51760.5 |
71.50 |
71.50 |
0.00 |
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