One of my favorite moments from Friends came when a particularly emotional Chadler said of Ross and Rachel, "Why can't those two just get along?". This kind of sentiment has powered many stories, as we witness two individuals who would be perfect together avoiding or ignoring a potential relationship. We, the audience, watch the two characters do an emotional dance and wonder why they can't see what we all see. (This was used particularly well in television shows like Cheers (with Sam and Diane) and Moonlighting (with Dave and Maddie). But, what if this kind of thing backfired and the audience really didn't care if the couple got together? That's just one of the problems with No Strings Attached.

Adam and Emma meet as teenagers at summer camp. They then meet again in college (where they are now played by Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman), where they spend a day together. Next, they run into one another in Los Angeles, where Adam is working as a production assistant on a television show and Emma is doing her residency in a local hospital, and they exchange phone numbers. A year later, after receiving some disturbing news, Adam gets very drunk, calls Emma, and winds up at her apartment, where they have sex. Emma states that she has no time or interest in a relationship, and suggests that she and Adam simply meet occasionally for sex. Adam is fine with this and the two begin a series of hook-ups. But, Adam, who's seen his father (Kevin Kline) fail with relationships, begins to have feelings for Emma, despite her protests. Emma tells Adam to go find someone new, but he doesn't have much interest in that. When sex leads to unrequited love, where can the relationship go?

In 2005, Ashton Kutcher appeared in a movie called A Lot Like Love, in which he and Amanda Peet played a couple who keep running into one another and refuse to note this as a sign from the universe that they should be together. That wasn't a great movie, but it had some nice moments and there was chemistry between Kutcher and Peet. This raises the question, "Why would Kutcher opt to basically make the same movie again?". And why would so many things go wrong?

As noted above, there is no chemistry between Kutcher and Portman, and this essentially ruins any chance which the movie had. The story sets up the fact that they are from different worlds; he's the son of a famous TV star who now works in show business and she's a hard-working doctor. However, they two act as if they are from different planets, and we wonder what they see in each other. Adam begins to fall in love with Emma and we not only wonder why he's doing this (she's cold and has told him she has no interest in a relationship), but, even more tragically, we don't care. The movie sets up another love interest for Adam, and you can tell that No Strings Attached wants us to stand up and yell, "No, go back to Emma!", but we can't muster the interest to do so. Ironically, the movie is filled with many other interesting characters (nearly every bit part shines here) and I often wanted the movie's focus to leave Emma and move on to anyone else.

The other crippling aspect of No Strings Attached is that we've seen it all before. In other of the extras on the Blu-ray Disc, one of the producers acts as if the "friends with benefits" plot was an original idea for a movie. Well, we've seen this done before, and we've seen it done better. Of course, any movie like this, in which a man and a woman start out as friends and then muddy the waters with romance must be compared to When Harry Met Sally, and they all pale in comparison. We know from experience that Adam and Emma will either end up together or they won't (being a studio romantic comedy, we're fairly certain that they will), but, as noted above, we don't care what happens. Even in decidedly second-tier movies like Just Friends or Along Came Polly, we root for love to blossom, but no such luck here. This movie goes through the requisite motions for this kind of film (they meet, they meet again, the hook up, they fight, etc.) and none of it feels fresh. The only real breath of fresh air here is Kevin Kline as Adam's father. A celebrity, he does and says whatever he wants, and his dialogue in the third act is one of the only truly funny things in the movie.

I hate for this review to sound so redundant, but why would Ashton Kutcher make a movie so similar to one that he's made before. I realize that Kutcher's acting range is very limited, but he's usually good in this kind of role, and he certainly displays that talent here, as he constantly looks very surprised that he's getting to have sex with Emma. Also, what is Ivan Reitman, who once ruled the comedy landscape, doing make a movie like this? (I didn't realize that he had anything to do with the movie until I saw his name listed for the audio commentary.) Apparently, he's lost his touch, as the movie has a sluggish pace. Other than a few funny moments, and the interesting character moving through the background (especially Mindy Kaling of The Office), this movie is a retread full of people whose talents could have been better used elsewhere.

No Strings Attached hit rock bottom when a pomeranian stole the show on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 32 Mbps. The image is sharp and clear, showing only a trace amount of grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look very good, most notably the tones in the in-film TV show, and the image is never overly dark or bright. However, the image shows a notable lack of detail and if one approaches the screen, the image gets really muddy really fast. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.0 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. Being a rom-com, we don't get an abundance of noteworthy effects here, but there are some. The music from Adam's TV show sounds very good and lets us know that our rear speakers and subwoofer are still working. Street and crowd scenes reveal acceptable stereo effects which show good separation.

The No Strings Attached Blu-ray Disc contains an assortment of extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Director Ivan Reitman. "Sex Friends: Getting Together" (21 minutes) is a fairly detailed making-of featurette which, for one, puts a nice amount of emphasis on the writer, as we get a lot of comments from writer Elizabeth Meriwether. The filmmakers talk about the evolution of the script and the casting -- allowing for a detailed look at most of the primary cast. "Inside the Sassy Halls of Secret High" (11 minutes) examines the fake television show which is featured in the film. It seems sort of odd that they would make an 11-minute featurette on this, as it's only a little part of the movie. "Modern Love: The Dos and Don'ts" (9 minutes) has the cast and crew discussing what relationships are like today and how this is reflected in the movie. The Disc contains six DELETED SCENES which run about 11 minutes. There are only two actual deleted scenes here and only one is slightly interesting. Otherwise, we get extended versions of scenes already in the film, including the complete cuts of the musical number from the fake TV show. Who is that for? The "Alternate Storyline Scenes" (4 minutes), show lost moments between Ashton Kutcher and Lake Bell.