Friends With Benefits’: Better than you suspect

After a two-week break from filmgoing, the question was — what movie should I use to break my fast? I’d spent the previous weeks watching heavy stuff such as “The Tree of Life,” “Poetry” and “Incendies.” So what does my pal Leslie Kelly suggest? “Friends With Benefits.”

Yes, the Justin Timberlake/Mila Kunis movie that, based on viewing the trailer, seemed to be a clone of the Natalie Portman/Ashton Kutcher film “No Strings Attached ” of a few months ago. But, as always, I should know better than the trust a trailer.

“Friends With Benefits” turns out to be a cleverly made, smart twist on the contemporary romantic comedy in that it is both that kind of film and a comment about that sort of film — no easy feat. But with a team of screenwriters (including Spokane’s own Harley Peyton ) working with intelligence, directory Will Gluck drawing on all his television experience and the leads showing the perfect kind of chemistry, the movie works just about as well as any romantic comedy in recent … well, years.

Of course, I haven’t seen “Crazy, Stupid Love” yet. Don’t know that I can take a movie about a guy who pines over Julianne Moore. Not a fan. Really.

Below : The wrongheaded trailer for “Friends With Benefits,” which deletes the satirical feel of the final product.