Sappy romance movies were made to swoon, but they are much better when they feature your favorite actors. You can’t help but laugh half the time the movie spans while picking the subtle lessons that bother reality and romance. One of such movies is Friends With Benefits, but fortunately, there are many more.
What Should You Know About Friends With Benefits?
Friends With Benefits is a romantic comedy released in 2011. Featuring Jamie Reillis and Dylan Harper, as seen in the official trailer, Jamie works with a job agency as a recruiter and is tasked with getting Dylan Harper to take up a job with GQ magazine in New York.
Dylan is reluctant to do so, but to change his mind, Jamie takes him around the city one night. Dylan eventually agrees to take up the job, and the two quickly become friends as Dylan settles into the new environment.
One day at Jamie’s apartment, they talk about sex and romantic relationships and agree that sex doesn’t have to accompany romantic feelings. They also agree that two people can have sex without all the emotional baggage.
The conversation that night marks the beginning of casual sex between Jamie and Dylan. However, as expected, Jamie soon learns that this won’t be enough for her and that she wants an actual relationship with a man. So she breaks off what she and Dylan have together. But she cannot move on to another relationship.
When both of them visit Dylan’s family on the 4th of July, they share a passionate kiss, and that night, they make love like never before for the first time.
Jamie finds herself falling for Dylan already, but she overhears Dylan’s comment and resolves that he doesn’t feel the same way, so she leaves. It takes a while for the pair to come to terms with their true feelings for each other and then take the next step to being together.
If you’re a sucker for a good rom-com and don’t mind more than a few detailed sex scenes, here are the 11 best movies like Friends With Benefits.
No Strings Attached (2011)
English 1h 48m IMDb
Director: Ivan Reitman
Stars: Natalie Portman, Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Kline
No strings attached is a romantic comedy featuring co-stars Natalie Portman, who plays Emma, and Ashton Kutcher, who plays Adam. When Adam finds out that his father is seeing his ex-girlfriend, he is so upset that he drunk-dials his female contacts on his cellphone, Emma being one of them.
They have known each other since a summer camp they attended as teenagers but only see occasionally. Adam wakes up the following morning to find himself in Emma’s house and on her couch. One thing leads to another, and they have sex.
Then, they proceed to have more of it, resolving to have a “no strings attached” relationship. But we all know these things never turn out quite as planned, right? Catch a glimpse of this hilarious rom-com here by watching the official trailer.
Love & Other Drugs (2010)
English 1h 52m IMDb
Director: Edward Zwick
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Judy Greer
By seeing Love & Other Drugs’ official trailer, you will know you’re in for a great time. In Friends With Benefits, we have lots of sex laced with humor, which is not any lesser in this movie. Jamie Randall is a womanizer who sells Viagra and other drugs.
He crosses paths with Maggie Murdock when he’s allowed in as an intern during a breast examination on her. It is a wrong move, and when Maggie learns of it, she has to say her bit.
They find each other irresistible, so they fall into each other’s arms and bed. They resolve to continue having casual sex. But Maggie’s disease and Jamie’s surging ambition make it a bumpy, emotional ride.
Two Night Stand (2014)
English 1h 26m IMDb
Director: Max Nichols
Stars: Miles Teller, Lio Tipton, Jessica Szohr
Meet your heroine, Megan. She has just lost her job and her engagement too. Her life is not quite as she envisioned it. And while her roommate tries to give her the support she needs, she wants her to move on and move out so her boyfriend can move in with her.
To get out of her way, Megan signs up for a hook-up with a guy she meets online, Alec. Except their one-night stand is prolonged when they are stuck together in an apartment due to a blizzard raging in Manhattan.
Now, they are forced to live through the awkwardness after a one-night stand and do things that require them to know each other better than a one-night stand could have made them. Check out the official trailer for a glimpse of this hearty rom-com movie.
Trainwreck (2015)
English 2h 5m IMDb
Director: Judd Apatow
Stars: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Brie Larson
Due to her father’s failed marriage, the idea of monogamy seems unrealistic to Amy Townsend. Amy has a sexual and alcohol addiction, which has stuck with her. She works as a writer with a men’s magazine and meets Aaron Conners when her boss assigns her to write an article about him.
While interviewing Aaron, Amy gets a text from her sister, Kim, that causes her panic attack. After Aaron manages to calm her down, he asks her out to dinner. After a couple of drinks, they rewind in Aaron’s apartment and end up having sex.
Against her better judgment, Amy stays back at Aaron’s place for the night. After that night, Aaron tries to pursue a relationship with Amy, but her non-existent belief in successful relationships keeps her back from him. Just from the official trailer of this movie, you already know it would be worth your time.
Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011)
English 1h 58m IMDb
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Stars: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore
Cal Weaver has been married to his wife for over 25 years, so it shocks him when she confesses that she cheated on him and then asks for a divorce. Having been out of the dating scene for quite some years, Cal is unfamiliar with how to pick up a lady or ask her out.
He meets Jacob Palmer at a bar he visits often. Jacob is a skilled womanizer and offers to hold Cal’s hand and walk him through how to pick up a lady again. Although they are off to a rocky start, Cal finally gets the hang of it and even embraces a lifestyle similar to Jacob’s.
But that’s only where the plot begins to thicken. Watch the official trailer to see what you’re missing out on if you haven’t seen this movie yet.
The Change-Up (2011)
English 1h 52m IMDb
Director: David Dobkin
Stars: Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Olivia Wilde
If you like Friends With Benefits, you would like The Change-Up, too, with its generous sprinkling of talk about sex and the real deal. The Change-Up attempts to be a bit more intense than the other movies on this list, and you can already guess this from the official trailer.
Mitch Planko and Dave Lockwood are friends, but they are the oddest pair. Dave is married with three kids, and he seems to have his life in order, except he doesn’t have it in order. He feels restricted by his job and being a family man, and he wants a break from it all.
Mitch is the exact opposite; he is not exactly employed, he is a teenager living in an adult’s body, and he can assume no responsibility whatsoever in his life.
They wish they had each other’s life, which is what they get when both have their bodies and lives switched up with the others. The rest of the movie follows how the two manage this and how the experience changes them.
Knocked Up (2007)
English 2h 9m IMDb
Director: Judd Apatow
Stars: Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd
The thing with one-night stands is that they are easy to pick oneself from and carry on with one’s life like nothing even happened. But when Allison and Ben are hit up at a nightclub, they are unprepared for the outcome that one night of uncontrolled drinking and unprotected sex will present to them.
Although they amicably agree to walk out of each other’s lives as they are not similar in any sense, the duo will still find that their paths will cross again soon when Allison discovers eight weeks later that she has been experiencing morning sicknesses.
After confirming her pregnancy with several tests, Allison reaches out to Ben for the first time since the one-night stand, and he is ecstatic at the news. The official trailer shows you how much drama you can expect from this hilarious movie.
What Happens in Vegas (2008)
English 1h 39m IMDb
Director: Tom Vaughan
Stars: Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Rob Corddry
“What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas,” they say. But can you leave the marriage you got into in Vegas back in Vegas? Joy and Jack have both just experienced significant upheaval in their lives, and so they each take a trip to Vegas.
They meet for the first time when they lodge in the same hotel and find themselves given the same room number. The misunderstanding is resolved, but they still keep each other company, party all night, and wake up married to each other in the morning.
They both decide to get a divorce but are refused by the judge, who insists they should try to live together for six months first. What starts with the duo out to get each other gradually progresses into a loving relationship. You will find yourself more eager to see this movie after you’ve seen the official trailer.
Playing It Cool (2014)
English 1h 34m IMDb
Director: Justin Reardon
Stars: Chris Evans, Michelle Monaghan, Topher Grace
Chris Evan features as both the narrator and the protagonist in the movie, Playing It Cool. He is a screenwriter identified simply as Me. His agent hires him to write a script for a romantic comedy movie.
But after being abandoned by his mother with his grandfather at a young age, he is very opposed to all things love and tends to quickly rid himself of ladies who ask him for more than sex.
So he has no clue what to write, and he must make the story as accurate as possible, he seeks help from his fellow writers to get information about love, but it doesn’t help him. Until he meets Her at a charity event, they immediately make a connection unlike anything Me has ever felt before.
But where the shoe drops are that She is in a relationship with another guy. But this doesn’t stop “Me” as he spends the rest of the movie finding Her again and conquering her heart. The official trailer will pique your interest in this heart-stopping movie.
The Ugly Truth (2009)
English 1h 36m IMDb
Director: Robert Luketic
Stars: Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Bree Turner
The Ugly Truth is another movie that falls into the genre of romantic comedy movies, just like Friends With Benefits, and the official trailer is a clear indicator. Abby Richter is a firm believer in true love. She has her morning show that she produces on TV.
Enters Mike Chadway, who is hired to improve the ratings on her show; they are opposites and get off the wrong foot, setting off the bad sparks. They soon learn to work together, though, and when Abby gets a new neighbor, Collin, who she fancies, Mike offers to help her get him.
They make a deal about whether they would continue to work together or not based on the outcome of her relationship with Collin. Mike can give Abby the desired result, but along the way, they must accept the greater truth that they have fallen for each other.
Life As We Know It (2010)
English 1h 55m IMDb
Director: Greg Berlanti
Stars: Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel, Josh Lucas
Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel are co-stars in this rom-com movie, and just from the official trailer, their on-screen chemistry is quite palpable. Holly and Eric are best friends to the married couple, Allison and Peter.
They are introduced together on a blind date set up by their friends, but it doesn’t end well. In a wicked twist of events, Holly and Eric are again brought together when their friends die in an auto crash accident.
They are godparents to their friends’ one-year-old daughter, Sophie, and are now saddled with caring for her. It comes with a catch, though. These two adults who can barely stand each other and have zero experience with parenting must now do so while living together in the same house.
The storyline is somewhat predictable, of course, but it is laced with such humor that you must see for yourself.
Summary
Movies show us the other side of life we sometimes fail to acknowledge. This curated list of movies similar to Friends With Benefits shows us the humorous side of love that some do not look out for often.
If you don’t mind humor mixed with a healthy dose of sex talk and more sex, then get ready to have your mind blown away by these movies.
