Natalie Portman is definitely THE one to beat for the Best Actress Oscar for her
performance in "The Black Swan" but I enjoyed her much more, and really
for the first time, in "No Strings Attached with Love and Other Drugs on
Valentine's Day"-- with the pictures being interchangeable. The success of this movie, if it has any, will be Portman's showing her comedic chops, doing a good job of it, and at the same time
exposing the hurt side of her character. There seems to be a
naturalness in this movie that I haven't seen before.

Just as in "Love and Other Drugs" there
is a lot of movie sex and nudity showing off the skin of both the leads
in each film though the women tend to show a little more than the guys.
The films are interchangeable as are the titles, couples and the pictures are forgettable 10 minutes after you have seen them.

There is chemistry between Portman and Ashton Kutcher but more during the give and take repartee than the sex scenes. It's time for Kutcher to start 'stretching' in his roles or he will soon be fading from the big screen. He character is defined as being 'tall and happy--very happy' and he fits the bill.

Kevin Kline is a standout, funny in his too short appearances, while some of the other supporting players such as Greta Gerwig overplaying, Chris Bridges mugging and Lake Bell, set up to crash as expected, aren't funny. Olivia Thirlby comes through as Portman's sister as does Jake Johnson in the role of Kutcher's roommate, not being the usual obnoxious character as it is usually played in other movies of the same ilk.

The screenplay by Elizabeth Meriwether has a lot of good one-liners that are delivered deftly by the actors. The director, Ivan Reitman,
keeps the movie going along until the ending that you know is coming
arrives. He adds a few sparkling moments along the way such as the two
leads walking around the Museum of Art or playing miniature golf and the never fails sharing a milkshake with two straws.

With a baby of the way, and possibly an Oscar, I hope Portman does more comedies, romantic or otherwise.