Tuesday’s Top Twin Trailers: No Strings Attached & Friends with Benefits

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Tuesday's Top Trailer. One of my favorite parts about going to see movies is the series of trailers that airs beforehand and, more often than not, the trailer is far better than the actual film. Each week, I'll be sharing a trailer I've recently seen. Please chime in with comments on what you think of the trailer and how you think the movie is going to be.

No Strings Attached – January 21, 2011
Friends with Benefits – July 22, 2011



I saw both of these recently-released trailers yesterday and was shocked by the similarities between them. Both are comedies dealing with friends deciding to add a little more to their relationships. On top of that, one stars Natalie Portman and the other stars Mila Kunis, both of whom are starring together in Darren Aronofsky’s forthcoming “Black Swan” next month. Watching both trailers back to back leaves scattered impressions, but there does seem to be a distinction between the two. After trying to woo best friend Jennifer Garner in February’s dismal “Valentine’s Day,” Ashton Kutcher is once again going after someone way out of his league with Portman. Even though she hasn’t made many comedies, Portman is very funny, although it seems that “No Strings Attached” might be trying to emphasize a more dramatic chord. “Friends with Benefits,” on the other hand, seems much more inclined to tickle the funny bone. The comparison is somewhat unfair since the trailer embedded below is a red band trailer and therefore gives more of a sense of the tone of the film since it can include swearing and sex and the like. Justin Timberlake proved he can act with “The Social Network” earlier this year, and Mila Kunis demonstrated that she can do more than “That 70s Show” with “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” back in 2008. Follow-ups like “Extract” and “Date Night” haven’t been as rewarding, but this appears to be more of the raunchy role that she didn’t get to play in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” so I’m hopeful that they’ll make for an entertaining pair. “No Strings Attached” is scheduled for the desert that is January, so maybe it will be a bright spot, while “Friends with Benefits” is coming out in the more crowded summer. I’ll probably see fifty films before the former and 150 before the latter, but I think they both look reasonably entertaining. Which one do you think looks better?

Warning: Red Band Trailer (NSFW) embedded below