| Just Friends | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Roger Kumble |
| Produced by | Chris Bender |
| Written by | Adam 'Tex' Davis |
| Starring | Ryan Reynolds Amy Smart Anna Faris Chris Klein Christopher Marquette |
| Music by | Jeff Cardoni H. Scott Salinas |
| Cinematography | Anthony B. Richmond |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | November 23, 2005 |
| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | Germany, USA, Canada[1] |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $50,912,434 |
Just Friends is a 2005 romantic comedy Christmas film directed by Roger Kumble. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris, Chris Klein, and Christopher Maquette and deals with friend zone relationships. The film was shot in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Contents |
In 1995, Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds), an obese, curly-haired high school student with a lisp, braces, and a gentle giant demeanor, attends the graduation party of his best friend, Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart). Chris has been secretly in love with Jamie throughout their entire friendship and plans to finally confess his feelings to her by writing them in her yearbook. However, when he tries to return it to her, it is swiped by Jamie's despicable ex-boyfriend Tim (Ty Olsson), who then reads Chris's confession aloud at the party. Chris is publicly humiliated and, to top it off, Jamie doesn't reciprocate his feelings. She gives him a kiss on the cheek and says she loves him like a brother. Jamie yells at their classmates for making fun of him, but Chris flees the party on his bicycle in tears, vowing to leave town and become more successful than all of them.
Ten years later, Chris has lost his excess weight and has become very handsome and successful with a thriving career as a Los Angeles record producer. He has also obtained a reputation as a ferocious womanizer. Just before Christmas, his boss (Stephen Root) orders him to take up-and-coming pop singer Samantha James (Anna Faris) to Paris, so that she will sign with their company. Chris goes reluctantly as he has a history with the self-obsessed singer. During their trip to Paris, Samantha sets her private jet on fire by neglecting to remove the aluminum foil from a plate of tuna she has placed in the plane's microwave oven. This necessitates an emergency landing in New Jersey, not far from Chris's hometown. He takes her to his mother's house for the night, causing him to face the humiliating high school years he left behind and his unresolved feelings for Jamie.
Stepping out to the local bar, Chris runs into some old friends and even Tim, who is now a balding, fat and drunken slob. He also runs into Jamie, who is now working her way through graduate school as a bartender. Thinking that he can finally get his high school love out of his system, Chris plans to woo and seduce Jamie. However, a number of unexpected problems, along with the growing realization that his friendship with Jamie really meant something to him, keep getting in the way. He bonds with Jamie on several occasions. During a friendly "day-date" of ice skating, Chris is injured in a game of hockey which results in him being taken away in an ambulance. Jamie is then reunited with the paramedic Dusty Dinkleman (Chris Klein) who used to be a nerdy high school student also in love with her.
Meanwhile, Chris leaves his younger brother Mike (Christopher Marquette) to watch over Samantha. When Mike is in the bathroom brushing his teeth, Samantha pushes him against the wall and asks him where Chris is. Mike says he won't tell her, but since Samantha knows that he has a major crush on her, she tongue kisses him, and he confesses that Chris is with his "lover" (thinking that Chris already had sex with Jamie). Samantha becomes jealous of Chris leaving her for Jamie, believing that she and Chris are in a relationship. In an angry rage, Samantha destroys Jamie's family's Christmas decorations. Embarrassed, Chris returns home only to be visited by Jamie. She reveals that she is not mad at Chris and plans to spend the night with him, but Chris is still unable to make a move on Jamie and they just go to sleep.
The next day, Jamie goes to Darla and Clark's house, who are now married, to talk to Darla. In the meantime, Chris goes to Clark's workplace, a dentist's office, to talk to Clark. Jamie tells Darla what had happened the night before and that she is afraid Chris might not like her since he did not make a move on her. She says that they are "just friends." She said that she "put herself out there" to Chris, trying to prove that she wants to be in a relationship with him. In the meantime, Chris tells Clark that "the timing wasn't right" and since him and Jamie have a history together, he can't sleep with her. He says that it seems like high school all over again. Later, Chris and Clark catch Dusty singing to a sexy nurse and then kissing her. Dusty reveals to Chris and Clark that he only plans to have sex with Jamie and then humiliate her like he felt she used to do to him. Chris tries to warn Jamie about Dusty during a children's Christmas pageant, but instead ends up attacking Dusty and ruining the play. Jamie won't listen when Chris tells her about the nurse, leaving him angry and disappointed with Jamie and her family. Chris gets drunk and goes to the bar where Jamie works and ends up blaming her for keeping him in the friend zone and telling her that she'll never amount to anything. She punches him and gets him tossed out of the bar. Chris returns to LA only to realize that Jamie is the only one for him. Chris returns to New Jersey and goes to Jamie's house and finally declares his true love for her and kisses Jamie as the neighborhood kids watch.
Alanis Morissette, then Reynolds's fiancée, made a cameo appearance as "herself" as a former client of his character. This came about when the casting director said "we need an Alanis Morissette type" and Reynolds said he knew someone who would fit. This scene was deleted, however, and is only available on the DVD.
The film was shot in Los Angeles and parts of Regina, Saskatchewan.[2]
A soundtrack was released November 22, 2005 on New Line Records.
Most songs in the film were written by Adam Schiff, except "When Jamie Smiles", which was written by H. Scott Salinas.
The orchestral score was written by Jeff Cardoni, and orchestrated by Stephen Coleman and Tony Blondal
At the U.S. Box office, the film opened at #6 raking in $9,191,331 USD in its first opening weekend, the film managed to crack the top five the following week with an average of $2,236 per theater.
|
|||||||||||