As most of us are aware by now, Justin Timberlake is profusely attempting to become a bonafide actor. While mostly everyone agrees that his performance in The Social Network was great, he’s had a much harder time persuading us with his lacklustre performances in his other films. In Bad Teacher he was the weakest link and almost self-handlendly brought down the film, in Friend With Benefits he was okay but was saved by his palpable chemistry with Mila Kunis, and In Time he attempts to prove he can do action to poor results.

In this universe, people stop aging after 25 years and time has become the currency. Living in the ghetto zone with his mother, Rachel (Olivia Wilde), Will (Justin Timberlake) is barely making ends meet until he encounters Henry Hamilton (Matt Bomer), a man possessing over a century. After Will saves Henry from some thugs led by Fortis (Alex Pettyfer), Henry gives all his time to Will before committing suicide. Will escapes the ghetto zone and travels to the rich zone where he befriends Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried) and together they attempt to redistribute time all the while a time keeper named Raymond (Cillian Murphy) hunts them down.

On paper, In Time has all the elements to make a truly brilliant and even groundbreaking science-fiction film. There’s the cinematography by the always amazing Roger Deakins, writer/director Andrew Niccol’s has proven with Lord of War and Gattaca that he can deliver exciting and thoughtful films, and he has managed to assemble a remarkable cast of young, able and promising actors. It because of these great things that one feels even more disappointed by how poorly Niccol handles the film. It is astounding how generic and overly dull In Time is.

The acting is a mixed bag. Cillian Murphy, Matt Bomer, Olivia Wilde and Vincent Karthesier all give effective performances that certainly elevate everything around them. However, these great actors are horribly misused and undermined by their one-dimensional characters and very little screen time. In Time instead favours those less able actors such as Amanda Seyfried, Alex Pettyfer and Justin Timberlake. These three give utterly poor and hollow performances. Seyfried is too stoic and uninvolved, Pettyfer displays a terrible accent and his character is basically useless, but Timberlake is the one who should reside most of the fault.

Timberlake’s performance isn’t atrocious as some people expected, but it isn’t good either. He fails at assembling an interesting character not only because the script won’t allow it, but also because he simply doesn’t rise up to the occasion. A far more able leading actor would’ve at least made his very presence engaging and enjoyable, but Timberlake gives us none of that. He doesn’t have the chops to carry a film like this and his only purpose is to give us nice man to look at. There’s really no involvement between him and the audience, and as a result you don’t care about what happens to him within the opening 10 minutes.

A lot of the blame must also be placed on Andrew Niccol for ever thinking Justin Timberlake could handle this film. Now that ladies and gentlemen is horrible casting at its finest. Timberlake’s inability to deliver an engaging performance also says a lot about Niccol as a director and how little he must seem to care about acting in his films. At least David Fincher brought out a great performance from an otherwise inexperienced wannabe actor. Moreover, Niccol fails horribly in the script department. A premise as cool as this one could’ve been so much more, it had a lot of potential that Niccol was unable to realize. The dialogue and story are boring, generic and completely forgettable.

In Time is the perfect example of a film that even with all the great elements in play couldn’t amount to more than a merely lacklustre science-fcition summer film. It’s really disappointed to see something with such potential be squandered by a generic script, poor acting, bad decisions and a less than capable direction. There were only two moments in the film I enjoyed and the rest was just simply me lying to myself by thinking things couldn’t possibly get worse. For another Justin Timberlake led vehicle, In Time is easily one his worst outings and for Andrew Niccol it is a colossal failure.

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In a year with two films dealing with the subject of fuck buddies, one was bound to come out victorious. No Strings Attached is definitely not the winner by any measures, because Friends With Benefits blows it out off the park without even trying. In this one, Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are best friends whose past relationships have left them emotionally unavailable. Since we all crave for sex like we do for chocolate, Timberlake and Kunis decide to become fuck buddies. It works for a while but at then end of the day they are faced with the inevitable downside to this totally awesome idea.

I think we all have or at least should experience at some point or another what it is to be fuck buddies. In theory it is a great idea with a win-win scenario because let’s face it who doesn’t love sex? But since we are human beings and we are programmed to feel things, at some point one person will start to develop feelings and that’s where things get complicated. Like every good thing in life, becoming fuck buddies is a very risky thing and in almost all cases ends horribly. You can not only lose a very good friend, but become even more emotionally hurt. And Friends With Benefits does an spectacular job at showcasing this type of conundrum.

The spends its first 20-30 minutes introducing us to Justin Timberlake’s and Mila Kunis’ character and how their friendship started. We get a real sense that these two people rapidly become friends thanks to the palpable chemistry between Timberlake and Kunis. They play off each so well that I would love to see these two team-up again for another film. It is this immense chemistry between them that really carries the film and makes you really care about both of them. In all honesty, this is the first time in my life where I genuinely wanted the characters in a romantic comedy to end up together. Plus, the film shows them some actual sex scenes that are not only hilarious and cool, but also unnaturally hot. Mula Kunis is beyond this world beautiful.

What’s more is that these two are actually very, very funny. Timberlake and Kunis take the already cleverly written dialogue and milk all the humor out of it, which results in a never-ending enjoyment. There are times where Timberlake is a bit wooden, but Kunis aids him during those moments so that you can’t even tell they’re there. He gives his best performance since The Social Network, but Mila Kunis completely steals the show. She is just unbelievably amazing and every time she’s on-screen there is so much charisma flowing out of her that I honestly couldn’t stop smiling. As it is the case with every romantic comedy, the supporting cast is excellent but they never steal the thunder from the leads like in other numerous films. This film is a Timberlake/Kunis show and they are what matter most.

Like I said before, the fuck buddies situation is dealt with pretty spot-on and since this is a romantic comedy, the film shows that sometimes this idea can yield positive results. Yes, I know that in most cases it fuck buddies relationship turn to shit but there are exceptions to everything. And besides, I would’ve been really pissed off if they didn’t get back together at the end. God, I can’t believe I got so attached to characters in a romantic comedy but fuck it, it was awesome. No Strings Attached should commit suicide, I blame Ashton Kutcher he is just awful.

Friends With Benefits is not only one of the funniest films I’ve seen so far this year, but it is also one of the absolute best romantic comedies to come out in years. Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis succeed beautifully and display something most romantic comedies lack: actual palpable chemistry. They are great, the supporting characters are great, especially Emma Stone who manages to leave a lasting impression after being in the film for about 5 minutes. Friends With Benefits is an all-around awesome fun and definite second win for Easy A director Will Gluck.

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In Bad Teacher, Cameron Diaz plays the most “I don’t give a fuck” middle-school teacher ever whose only goal is finding a rich man that will take care of her. In order to attract the attention of the new hot and very rich substitute teacher Justin Timberlake, she decides to get her boobs done. However, she doesn’t have enough money so her only option is winning the school’s end of the year bonus, which is giving to the class with the highest scores.

If there is one flaw that many trailers for comedies have is that sometimes they are funnier than the actual film. It really hurts the viewing experience when you’ve already scene all the best parts of a film even before you’ve seen the film. There’s no more surprises and you’re left disappointed. Bad Teacher is one of those rare cases in which the trailer is just as funny as the film. That isn’t a compliment and it doesn’t mean the film is bad, but don’t expect it to be laugh-out-loud hilarious.

Having said that, the film does have some funny moments. Cameron Diaz is not only absolutely effective in the title role, but she also proves that she can be very funny. Her character is a total superficial bitch whose brutal honesty hurts everyone around her, but she is also one of the most awesome characters I’ve seen all year. It is so great to Diaz play a character that is somewhat of a villain, and while she does grow and change a bit throughout the film she still keeps her “I will fuck you up” vibe. She’s the best part of the film.

In the case of the supporting characters in the film, they are mixed bag. Some of them really work while others fail horribly. Jason Segel is, of course, the standout by delivering a hilarious performance filled with heart. He’s really likable and his character isn’t a pushover like the trailers portrayed him. Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family has very little screen time but he makes the most of it by being awesome and hilarious, as Cameron Diaz weird roommate. And then there’s Phyllis Smith from The Office who you just want to hug. I thought her role would be larger, but she’s still really good with what she had.

The ones that failed horrible were Lucy Punch and Justin Timberlake. Lucy Punch problem is simply that her character is extremely annoying and very cartoonish. Every time she was on-screen I just wanted to burn and kill a lot of puppies. I have never been more annoyed by character since Jack Black’s Nacho Libre. I also get that her character is suppose to be weird, but her weirdness isn’t funny it’s just really what the fuck. Then there’s Justin Timberlake who proves to all the non-believes that The Social Network was definitely a one time deal. Timberlake cannot act worth shit and the fact that he tries so hard makes him look really pathetic. He isn’t funny, charming and the stupidity and uncoolness of his character almost ruins the film.

Bad Teacher is a funny film but doesn’t even come to close to the hilariousness of Bridesmaids and The Hangover Part II. Cameron Diaz has never been this great and she needs to take roles like this one more often, God knows there are very few actresses who can swear as perfectly and as naturally as she can. I expected Bad Teacher to be funnier and raunchier, but even if it didn’t meet my expectation I still enjoyed watching it. You just need to look past the atrocity that is Justin Timberlake’s… I can’t even call it acting, I honestly don’t know what the fuck he was doing.

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