‘No Strings,’ But A Tangle Of A Situation Nonetheless
Snack Time: Adam (Ashton Kutcher) lesbian sex app and his longtime friend Emma (Natalie Portman) look to each other for their recommended daily allowance of physical affection – but only one of them consciously hopes for more. Dale Robinette/Paramount Pictures hide caption
‘Are We Going To Do This?’
- Director: Ivan Reitman
- Genre: Romantic Comedy
- Running Time: 108 minutes
Somewhere off-screen in No Strings Attached, Vincent Cassel is shaking his head. As the ballet director in Black Swan, Cassel spends much of his time exasperated with his star dancer, played by Natalie Portman, as she struggles to transform herself from zee White Swan – innocent, elegant, precise – to zee Black Swan, a creature of spontaneity and lust. And on one unmistakable level, that film is about Portman’s limitations as an actress (or her perceived limitations, anyway), and her attempts to expand her range and transform her image. She’ll likely win an Oscar for it.
‘Did I Have Sex With Anyone?’
In No Strings Attached, Portman is once again called upon to play the Black Swan, and once again the beast within isn’t easily summoned. As Emma, an independent woman with an admitted “peanut allergy for relationships,” Portman gets the type of role more frequently assigned to men in Bud Light commercials: She may like the hot body across from her, but if it talks too much or wants to snuggle, she’s out the door. (mais…)