Ivan Reitman, master of the high-concept, big-budget Hollywood comedy (Ghostbusters, Dave), would seem an unlikely candidate to direct No Strings Attached, an extremely low-concept, low-key romantic comedy of contemporary sexual mores centered on the dating foibles of attractive nerds. Devoid of the fantasy contrivance that often sets a Reitman film in motion, Strings is, for the most part, extremely narrow in focus.Adam (Ashton Kutcher), a production assistant on a High School Musical-like series who would rather be a writer, drunkenly texts every girl in his phone and wakes up the next morning at the apartment of Emma (Natalie Portman),
Can men an women be sex buddies without romantic attachment getting in the way?
Of course not -- this is America! Or so, at least, teaches "No Strings Attached," a hedging, conservative romantic comedy directed with generational bafflement by "Ghostbusters'" Ivan Reitman.
The movie continues the long tradition of Hollywood rom-coms, from "When Harry Met Sally..." to "Knocked Up," that bait with amusing, naughty sex and then switch to reassuring romantic commitment.
In this variation, marketed for the age of hookups and friends with benefits, a pretty, romance-averse doctor-in-training named Emma (Natalie Portman) sets the rules governing her relationships: no cuddling, no morning-after breakfasts, no learning. Just boinking.
At first this is a Penthouse dream come true for a certain primo hottie named Adam (Ashton Kutcher, in his zone).
