For the second time this fall, Ryan Reynolds stars in a comedy as a sardonic wiseass beside Anna Faris and a large supporting cast. But unlike his chain-restaurant-inspired, twenty-something-slacker film "Waiting...," which served up poor comedic timing and misguided casting, his newest movie, "Just Friends," is a welcoming place to be.
Reynolds plays Chris Brander, a successful L.A. record executive and former overweight high school cheerleader in New Jersey. When he returns home ten years after graduation, he holds out hope that beautiful high school best friend Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart) will become something more than just his friend.
"Just Friends" proves that Reynolds, when given solid material and a well-crafted cast, can be one of the funniest actors in Hollywood. Gone are the constant self-congratulating smirks and antagonistic sarcasm that pervaded his unlikable character in "Waiting..." They are replaced by a self-deprecating mania that gives the impression his character can make jokes about the insanity of the situation around him even when he has no control. This film represents a return to a moral aim that made his characters both king and court jester in films like "Van Wilder" and "Blade: Trinity."
Reynolds's ability alone is not sufficient to make a solid comedy. "Just Friends" has a variety of interesting characters that play off Brander perfectly and give a different comedic pitch to every scene in the movie. While Smart plays a largely forgettable female love interest, Faris shines as ditzy Hollywood starlet Samantha James. Faris appears born for this role; her schtick of unaware dopiness mixed with sexual aggression blends well with Reynolds's biting asides. One hysterical incident occurs early in the movie when Faris becomes so enamored after seeing Reynolds that she begins madly ripping off his clothes in a recording studio. Like a crow distracted by a shiny object, however, Faris becomes quickly preoccupied by something else, and Reynolds is left sitting in a chair and starring at her in shock as his pants slowly sink to the ground. The interplay between the fool (Faris) and her keeper (Reynolds) combines for some of the most hilarious situations in the film.
"Just Friends" is not something that hasn't been tried before. It is a romantic comedy wrapped in a transformative tale with a little "Three Stooges" added for good measure. The central plot is fairly predictable and the movie seems to run out of steam by the end despite a runtime of just 96 minutes.
What makes "Just Friends" worth the price of admission, however, is the continued evolution of Reynolds as one of the most sarcastic and physically gifted actors in Hollywood today. "Waiting..." proved that he can't just show up on screen and make a movie funny or worth seeing. But when he's paired with an interesting supporting cast and a script that plays to his strengths, Reynolds is an actor that people will come back to see again and again.
