Contrast Essay

English 2 (ENGL 0205) Assignment 2

Carmen Chee Cha Yi (0313893)

FNBE JULY 2013 - ENGL 0205 English 2

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I have chose to contrast between two movies which are Friends With Benefits and No Strings Attached that are under the genre of romantic comedy film in this assignment. Romantic comedy has been one of the most popular genres in film but what exactly is romantic comedy? Romantic comedy or rather be known as romcom can be regarded as a hybrid of romance and genres, featuring a narrative that centers on the progress of a relationship, and, being a comedy, mostly always result in a happy ending. According to McDonald, T. J. (2007), he suggest that a romantic comedy is a film which has its central narrative motor a quest for love, which portrays this quest in a light-hearted way and almost always to a successful conclusion. A romcom certainly has a very distinctive narrative structure : boy meets girl, various obstacles prevent them from being together, conincidences and complications ensue, ultimately leading to the couples's realisation that they were meant to be together. (Mortimer, 2010, p. 4).

I have watched this two movies several times just so I would able to identity the contrast between the two. If you were to only look at the bare bones of both movie, you would assume that Friends with Benefits and No Strings Attached are essentially the same movie . Apparently I would agree that these two films are quite similiar as they happen to be R-rated romantic comedies about attractive young adults who attempt to maintain a sex-only relationship, only to face to complications when feelings start to intrude - but that's just where the similarities end. However, these two polar-opposite movies have their differences in a few crucial areas which is the arrangement, setting and comedic style.
FNBE JULY 2013 - ENGL 0205 English 2 Names of group members:

The film Friends with Benefits starring Mila Kunis as the character Jamie who is a New York head-hunter trying to sign Los Angeles- based Dylan who is featured by Justin Timberlake for her client. When he takes the job and makes the move, they quickly become friends. Their friendship turns into a friendship with benefits, but with Jamie's emotionally damaged past and Dylan's history of being emotionally unavailable, they have to try to not fall for each other the way Hollywood romantic comedies dictate. To be concluded that the movie arrangement in this film is where the parties pledge to keep matters physical before they do the deed. This movie have chosen New York and Los Angeles as their setting, mainly at Manhattan and Brooklyn where it includes ocean and other glossy and acceptable romcom locations all in one movie. As for the comedic style, Friends with Benefits relies primarily on clever dialogue and supplemented with situational humor.

On the other hand, the film No Strings Attached featured Natalie Portman who's character is Emma and Ashton Kutcher as Adam. In this romantic comedy, Emma and Adam are life-long friends who almost ruin everything by having sex one morning. In order to protect their friendship, they make a pact to keep their relationship strictly "no strings attached." "No strings" means no jealously, no expectations, no fighting, no flowers, no baby voices. It means they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, in whatever place they want as long as they don't fall in love. But being the question in
FNBE JULY 2013 - ENGL 0205 English 2 Names of group members:

this movie that made it different from Friends with Benefits is - who exactly is going to fall first and the survival of their friendship. This movie is arranged in the sense where the pact isn't made after sex has been had. As for the movie setting, this film only takes place at Los Angeles which is more bland and boring compared to Friends with Benefits. Places like bars, cemetery, market and especially in a public university hospital where Emma works at, are included in this film. No Strings Attached differs with Friends with Benefit in comedic style where it relies primarily on situational humor and supplemented with clever dialogue.

After accessing the contrasts between the two movies, I think that No Strings Attached would be the perfect choice if you are looking for a more romantic story wheareas Friends with Benefits would make a perfect comedy movie choice. In conclusion, I personally would go for the movie Friends with Benefits because I certainly couldn't ask for a better company than Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis who both are equally charming. The well-chosen cast in Friends with Benefits works hard to prove that we are not stuck with a disposable rom-com whereas the leads in No Strings Attached aren't able to inject much humanity into characters who bear so little resemblance to actual people.

FNBE JULY 2013 - ENGL 0205 English 2

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REFERENCES 1. Gluck, W. (Director). (2011) Friends with Benefits, United States of America, Castle Rock Entertainment. 2. Reitman, I. (Director) . (2011) No Strings Attached , United States , Cold Spring Pictures & Spyglass Entertainment & The Montecito Picture Company. 3. Mortimer, C. (2010). Romantic comedy. New York, NY: Routledge Film Guidebooks. 4. McDonald, T. J. (2007). Romantic comedy: boy meets girl meets genre. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Retrieved from cup-ebook@columbia.edu 5. Langan, J. (2008). College Writing Skills with Readings. New York, NY: McGrawHill.

FNBE JULY 2013 - ENGL 0205 English 2

Names of group members: