Will Gluck is a filmmaker who’s only half clever who thinks he’s too clever by half. His characters are so prone to winking at the camera one could be forgiven for thinking that Morse Code is involved, and the constant admission that the movies are adhering to formula while gently ridiculing it doesn’t prove insightful.

Nonetheless, “Friends with Benefits” is the superior film this year about two attractive people that decide to give consequence-free coitus a try. The first, “No Strings Attached,” was unwatchable, vulgar trash starring Natalie Portman as the world’s least convincing adult (her Oscar was basically for playing a child) and Ashton Kutcher, the world’s least anything (his finest work remains as the abused casino patron in “Reindeer Games”).

Directed by the once competent Ivan Reitman, the film wholly lacked charm, believable characters, and decency. Gluck, director of “Fired Up!” and “Easy A,” is at times able to surmount his own smugness as a filmmaker and thus come out with a perfectly serviceable romantic comedy, albeit one not deserving of much more praise than that.

“Friends with Benefits” features better and even more attractive talent in the form of Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake, who make the premise work because they actually have chemistry in the friend mode.

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Very few romantic comedies these days manage to get both the romance and the comedy right. But the surprisingly well-written, deftly cast and impressively scored new film “The Back-Up Plan” manages to be a rare success on both fronts.

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What’s even more surprising is that the film serves as the comeback vehicle for Jennifer Lopez after a string of cinematic bad luck that includes what is easily regarded as one of the 10 worst films ever made (“Gigli”), a film that went straight to DVD – “Bordertown” – and the poorly received “El Cantante,” in which she co-starred with her husband, Latin singing superstar Marc Anthony. But J. Lo has proven her ability to charm audiences in her fair share of hits (“Maid in Manhattan,” “The Wedding Planner”) as well, and she delivers a wonderfully rounded performance here.

Lopez portrays Zoe, a woman approaching 40 without Mr. Right in tow (I know, this seems impossible with a woman of J. Lo’s beauty, but she makes it work). But she wants a kid, so she enacts her back-up plan: artificial insemination. The film follows Zoe as she visits the sperm bank right before finally meeting Stan, the dude who wins her heart (Aussie actor Tom O’Laughlin, who shows the charm that built him a rabid cult following playing a vampire on the former CBS series “Moonlight.”) (more…)

It will be a good thing if the Sandra Bullock romantic comedy The Proposal continues its box-office success–if Hollywood draws the right conclusions about why it did well.

The film had a rather surprisingly strong opening weekend at the U.S. box office, finishing on top of the heap with a take of $34.1 million in North American ticket sales.

It’s the first film starring Sandra Bullock in a decade to reach number one. Men accounted for a healthy 37 percent of the audience, according to Reuters. The film’s trailers and commercials strongly established the film as a by-the-books romantic comedy centered on a distinctly meager and unoriginal comic premise: female executive fakes engagement to her assistant in order to escape deportation (she’s from Canada). When she takes him to meet her family, hilarity ensues. (more…)

Rebooting Bond with Daniel Craig was Bold. Christopher Nolan’s Reinvention of Batman was genius. But some thought it was overly-ambitious, even audacious, to attempt to restart the Star Trek franchise. It has begun to pay off already for Paramount Pictures, and there will dividends for years to come.

A shiny new Enterprise is luring in a new generation of STAR TREK fans

J.J. Abrams is officially the Lazarus of movie directors as his all-new Star Trek has gone “Boldly Gone Where No Star Trek Movie has Gone Before.” With a cast of relative unknowns, the 42-year-old has resurrected a franchise that had been killed by insular “nerdyness” and timid imagination. The Gene Rodenberry creation didn’t so much bomb as it died slowly over a period of years. First, the 2002 movie Star Trek: Nemesis starring the Next Generation cast disappointed with a meager $43.3M domestic. Then, the final TV series Enterprise, which starred Scott Bakula, was not embraced by core fans or broader audiences and was canceled after four seasons, ending May 13, 2005.

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Several sources at competing studios have told me that J.J. Abrams’ all-new reboot of Star Trek (Paramount), which debuted last night at 7pm at many of its 3,849 locations, may have grossed as much as $6.5M-$7.5M. Studio honchos are “locked down tight” about actual numbers, but that is in the same ballpark as Transformers (Dreamworks/Paramount), which grabbed $8.8M in its previews starting at 8pm on Monday, July 2 during the summer of 2007. (What portion of ticket sales fall into Thursday and what percentage fall into Friday will likely be an open question even after final numbers are in.)

William Shatner (left) with Captain Kirk 2.0 Chris Pine

Keep in mind that Paramount never changed its Star Trek marketing to promote the 7pm Thursday start, so the opening night audience was likely heavy on Trekkers or Trekkies (not sure which term is “politically correct” anymore). So this was a “soft” opening and what amounts to a night of word-of-mouth screenings. Keep in mind that Transformers premiered during the summer when kids are more available while Star Trek has made its premiere during the school year.

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The all-new J.J. Abrams reboot of Star Trek (Paramount) will win the second weekend of the Hollywood Summer Box Office season by at least a couple of light years over Fox’s fast-fading X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but some of the astronomical numbers I’ve seen floating around in the blogosphere are very over-heated. Make no mistake, this movie will open extraordinarily well, but it’s not going to play out as a typical front-loaded blockbuster. Moviegoers need time to shake off the disappointment of the final TV series Enterprise (starring Scott Bakula and canceled after four seasons) and the disastrous 2002 final film Star Trek: Nemesis ($43.3M domestic). It will take time for a new generation of fans to discover the magic of Gene Rodenberry’s vision of the future through Abrams’ magical lens.

As of Wednesday night, Star Trek is cruising with 94% Fresh (positive) reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and critics are slinging some seriously glowing hyperbole.

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