L. KENT WOLGAMOTT / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, November 24, 2005 6:00 pm
For some reason that I can’t fathom, Ryan Reynolds has become a movie star of sorts, helping to fill screens if not theater seats for junk like “Van Wilder,” the horrid remake of “The Amityville Horror” and, most recently, “Waiting.”
He’s already back, playing a self-obsessed yuppie in the romantic comedy “Just Friends.”
The hook of the film is that Reynolds’ Chris Brander was a geeky fat kid in high school, a male cheerleader who was secretly in love with his best friend, Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart). When he confesses that love at a party, he’s humiliated by the school’s jocks and runs away.
A decade or so later, now slimmed down and a mover in the music business, Brander ends up back in his hometown and figures out that he’s still carrying a torch for Jamie, who’s now a bartender.
The rest of the story involves Brander’s efforts to get her back and/or steal her away from rival Dusty Dinkleman (Chris Klein), another former classmate who’s come back home and seems to be the ideal man, a sensitive singer/songwriter who works as an EMT.
That, of course, is supposed to make him the opposite of the egotistical Brander, whose California yuppie values are out of touch with what is really important to Jersey girl Jamie.
It’s hard not to know exactly what’s going to happen 30 seconds after the film’s storyline becomes clear. This is formula romantic comedy at its most trying.
Writer Adam “Tex” Davis tries hard to be hip, wrapping in some — get this — ’90s nostalgia designed to appeal to the movie’s target audience. But all the All-4-One covers and high school references can’t disguise the fact that his script is nothing out of the ordinary.
In fact, the only thing truly interesting and funny in the film is Anna Faris’ inspired performance as spoiled brat pop star Samantha James.
A combination of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears without the talent (which is saying something), Samantha’s a preening, vacuous beauty who expects to be served by all those around her. She’s the reason Brander winds up back at home, and to say she doesn’t fit in Jersey is an understatement.
Faris, who played a similar character in “Lost in Translation,” goes over the top, stealing scene after scene.
Reynolds is as annoying as ever here. His fat suit is never convincing, which isn’t his fault. But neither is his performance at any other time in the movie. It’s not hard to believe him as a superficial Hollywood type. But the inevitable transformation of his character is implausible, a complete rejection of everything about his adult life, and he’s not good enough to pull that off.
“Just Friends” could connect with the young audience that powers the box office. Perhaps some of them haven’t yet memorized the romantic comedy formula. And somebody must like Reynolds — though it baffles me that he continues to get work.
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.