Justin intrigued by the adult humor of Friends With Benefits

MANILA, Philippines - On a roll after appearing in back-to-back hits The Social Network and Bad Teacher, Justin Timberlake now stars in Columbia Pictures’ romantic comedy Friends With Benefits opposite Mila Kunis.

Director Will Gluck recalls catching Timberlake on Saturday Night Live and being wowed. “I was impressed, and then he did another SNL and he was even funnier. And the reason he’s so funny is because he’s a great actor. Friends With Benefits is his first full-time comedic role. He can do anything. He’s so charismatic that you can’t keep your eyes off him.”

For his part, Timberlake not only loved the adult humor of Benefits, but was intrigued by where his and Mila’s characters Dylan and Jamie are in their respective lives when the movie introduces them to us. Both are young and successful at work, but they’re also circumspect about love, struggling with family issues. “Just the things that happen to you when you get to a certain age, like my age,” says Timberlake, “when you’re sort of questioning the ‘establishment’ of what you’ve grown up with — as far as relationships are concerned — what it all means.”

In the film, when Dylan moves to New York after Jamie recruits him for an exciting position at GQ Magazine, the two become fast friends, comrades in cynicism, ready to laugh at the world’s craziness and each other’s foibles.

With Timberlake’s Dylan working hard to establish himself at a new job in a new city and no time to pursue life’s more frivolous aspects, and Kunis’ Jamie meeting too many “nice” guys who turn out to be not-so-nice, the two come to an agreement asserting mutual benefits without the emotional complications of dating. Because after all, everyone has physical needs, they convince themselves. What could possibly go wrong?

Opening across the Philippines today, Friends With Benefits is distributed by Columbia Pictures.