Just Friends

Herald rating: * *

This is an over-the-top, romantic comedy aimed at those still young enough to remember what it was like to be put into the "just friends" category by your secret crush at high school.

The film kicks off well, partly because it's set in 1995, and all of a sudden that feels like a long time ago and we can laugh at it now. And partly because Reynolds, as our hero Chris, pulls off a fat suit so well.

He plucks up the courage to tell his best friend Jamie (Amy Smart) that he's in love with her, only to be told by her that she loves him too. As friends.

Chris vows to leave his small home town and not come back until he's proven he's better than all of their friends.

Ten years later, a lot lighter, and with a slick wardrobe and job as a successful music executive, Chris, due to bad weather and a contrived script, finds himself back in his New Jersey home town.

Accompanied by a dim-witted starlet (a la Britney), and grudgingly staying with his mother, Chris tries to get out of town as fast as he can, until he meets Jamie and decides he's going to get the girl.

But his new look also accounts for a new personality and he's become a tosser. As he desperately tries to reconnect with Amy, and his old self, he has to cope with her cruel father, his taunting younger brother and another former nerd Dusty (Klein), who is now a sensitive, stud-like ambulance officer competing for Jamie.

Reynolds will be familiar to audiences from his stint on TV show Two Guys and a Girl, and his self-obsessed, sarcastic form of humour suits this film well.

Directed by Roger Kumble (Cruel Intentions), Just Friends has a mean streak through it, and attempts to channel the Farrelly Brothers with over-the-top-comedic moments, but doesn't do a great job.

The comedy and characters are hit and miss. Smart is adorable and the smooth Dusty makes Chris look like a stumbling oaf, but no matter how many wacky supporting characters fill this film, it's still predictable fodder for teens on holiday.

CAST: Anna Faris, Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Chris Klein
DIRECTOR: Roger Kumble
RUNNING TIME: 94 minutes
RATING: M
SCREENING: Village and Hoyts