“Just Friends” is a romantic comedy movie released in 2005. It is almost entirely set around Christmas. The movie shows lots of beautiful indoor and outdoor Christmas decorations and features many Christmas songs, such as “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”, and “We Wish you a Merry Christmas”. Although classified as a “romantic” movie, I would not recommend this movie for children, as some of the scenes are quite risqué.
The story of the movie revolves around Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds) and Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart), who are best friends during high school. Chris is sensitive and loving, but unfortunately rather overweight and goofy. Jamie is beautiful and very popular by comparison. At a party after their high school graduation (in 1995), Chris confesses to Jamie that he is totally in love with her. In front of the whole party, she responds by saying that she loves him like a brother. When the other people at the party make fun of him, he is really humilated and storms off saying that he’ll show them…
Ten years later, Chris is a handsome, successful record producer in Los Angeles. His personality seems to have changed completely and he has become a confident womanizer. Several days before Christmas, Chris is flying to Paris with an up-and-coming, self-obsessed pop singer Samantha James (Anna Faris). During their flight in her private jet, Samantha accidentally sets the microwave on fire by neglecting to remove the metal foil from her microwave meal. This results in an emergency landing in New Jersey, right near Chris’ hometown. So, they both go to his mother’s house for the night.
When they go to the local bar, Chris runs into some old friends, including Jamie, who now works there. He decides to stay in town longer so that he can meet up with her for a date. To me, it is not totally clear whether he is genuinely interested in her or whether he is just trying to seduce her to get revenge for leading him on and humiliating him in the past. Jamie is surprised by how much Chris has changed and does not feel that it has all been for the better. She is not sure if she likes him anymore. They do share some happy moments though, for instance, on Christmas Eve, while watching old home videos of themselves.
Their relationship is further complicated by the arrival of another (previously even nerdier) friend from the past. His name is Dusty Lee Dinkleman (Chris Klein) and he is clearly also interested in getting Jamie’s attention. Like Chris, he too has grown into an attractive and successul man. While he appears charming and gentlemanlike, he is actually only out to get revenge against Jamie because he is bitter that she didn’t pay him enough attention during highschool. When Chris finds out Dusty’s motives, he tells Jamie. She says that this is exactly what Dusty had said to her about Chris. She is very angry, and Chris and Jamie’s relationship appears to be over forever… Will such old friends be able to convert their awkward friendship into a long-lasting romance? Watch the movie to find out how their story ends!
