Silly ‘Strings’

Those who thought Natalie Portman cut loose in her brilliant turn as a tortured ballerina in Black Swan may be even more surprised this Friday when she stars with Ashton Kutcher in her first outright comedy, No Strings Attached. Ivan Reitman directs as Portman plays an overworked, under-appreciated young woman with a physical crush on her best bud. One night they decide to try to be just friends with benefits without being emotionally ensnared into something more, something complicated. But as they spend more time together, they realize that keeping such strict boundaries on their emotions might be harder than abstaining ever proved to be. Greta Gerwig, Mindy Kaling, Kevin Kline and Olivia Thirlby co-star. Rated R. (Photo by Dale Robinette)