SNMR 7.24: "Just Friends"

GREEN'S "YOU DON'T SEE THAT EVERY DAY" REVIEW:

Chubby and awkward as a teenager, Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds) has been best friends with Jamie Palomino (Amy Smart) for a long time. Jamie just happens to be the most beautiful girl in school who everyone wanted to date. Chris' dream was to take his friendship with Jamie to the next level but all she wanted was to remain friends.

Flash forward ten years. Chris is now thin and fit and a hot Hollywood music executive, trying to sign the next "big" talent, shallow, airhead blond Samantha James (Anna Faris), who has a crush on Chris. On their way to Paris for Christmas, their plane makes an unscheduled stop in New Jersey, close to where Chris grew up.

Now with a girl in tow whom he cant stand, Chris accidentally runs into Jamie at the bar where she works, and the sparks fly as Chris tries to woo his high school best friend and lifelong romantic fantasy. But can he escape the "friend zone?"

This is one of those movies that I kept seeing in the library and ignoring because there was always something better. Finally I decided to give it a shot, since I thought Ryan Reynolds did a good job in a couple of other movies I've seen him in.

I haven't laughed so hard watching a movie in a long time.

Yes, it's a movie with many silly moments but rings true for any of us who have been in the dreaded "friend zone" with a girl we had a hopeless crush on. You know what I'm talking about, fellas.

Ryan Reynolds and Amy Smart are excellent and do display a good on-screen chemistry. The supporting cast is very good, with Anna Faris, Chris Klein and Chris Marquette.

This is writer Adam "Tex" Davis' first feature length screenplay which has its moments and for a first timer is pretty good. Roger Kumble hasn't directed too many films, but he has worked on some good ones, such as Cruel Intentions (which he also wrote) and The Sweetest Thing, so has experience with drama and romantic comedy.

The movie has a run time of 94 minutes, which is just about right, though could have been six or seven minutes longer.

The DVD extras are excellent and include nine behind the scenes featurettes, deleted scenes and a feature length commentary.

If you're in the mood for a fluffy, funny romantic comedy, this is as good as any.

***½ out of *****

Just Friends (2005, PG-13, 94 minutes), starring Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Chris Klein, Anna Faris, Chris Marquette and Fred Ewanuick. Writen by Adam 'Tex' Davis, Directed by Roger