# No Strings Attached (film)
**No Strings Attached** is a 2011 American romantic comedy directed by [Ivan Reitman](https://www.edgepedia.org/ivan-reitman) and starring [Natalie Portman](https://www.edgepedia.org/natalie-portman) as Emma, a commitment-averse hospital doctor, and [Ashton Kutcher](https://www.edgepedia.org/ashton-kutcher) as Adam, who agree to a sex-only relationship with no romance, jealousy, or expectations.[1](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/no-strings-attached) Paramount Pictures released it in Los Angeles and New York on January 21, 2011.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66748-NO-STRINGS-ATTACHED)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Los Angeles and New York openings January 21, 2011; distributed by Paramount Pictures[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66748-NO-STRINGS-ATTACHED) |
| Director and writer | Directed by Ivan Reitman; screenplay by Elizabeth Meriwether, story by Meriwether and Mike Samonek[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66748-NO-STRINGS-ATTACHED) |
| Leads | Natalie Portman as Emma, a young doctor on endless hospital shifts; Ashton Kutcher as Adam, a TV production assistant[1](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/no-strings-attached) • [3](https://movie.guru/no-strings-attached-movie-review) |
| Rating and runtime | Rated R; Paramount lists 108 minutes, the AFI Catalog 110 minutes[1](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/no-strings-attached) • [2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66748-NO-STRINGS-ATTACHED) |
| Critical score | 47% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 171 reviews; 51% audience score[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_strings_attached_2011) |
| Home video | Blu-ray/DVD Combo with Digital Copy and standard DVD released May 10, 2011 by Paramount Home Entertainment[5](https://ir.paramount.com/news-releases/news-release-details/natalie-portman-and-ashton-kutcher-star-hilarious-comedy-asks) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Emma and Adam are lifelong friends who take their relationship to a physical level and then make a pact to keep things purely physical, with no fighting, no jealousy, and no expectations, and a pledge not to fall in love; the story's question is who will fall first.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_strings_attached_2011) Paramount's synopsis frames the film as a modern look at what happens when friends-in-need do the deed, asking whether "sex friends" can stay best friends once a fling becomes a thing.[1](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/no-strings-attached)
Character detail in reviews fills out the setup. Emma guards her emotions, at one point calling her father's funeral "a thing"; after a quick encounter before leaving for a hospital shift, she proposes the no-strings, sex-only relationship without romance or complications.[6](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/no-strings-attached/2030454099/) Adam, who obviously wants more than she does, is described as a TV production assistant in one review and as an assistant director of routine TV sitcoms, reunited with her in Los Angeles after they met as teenagers in college, in another.[3](https://movie.guru/no-strings-attached-movie-review) • [7](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/feb/27/no-strings-attached-portman-review) A later retrospective describes Kutcher's Adam as an aspiring TV executive who quickly catches feelings and confesses them, only to be shut down by the extremely commitment-averse Emma, setting up rounds of will-they-won't-they.[8](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g4017/best-rom-coms/) Time Out read the story as an update of *When Harry Met Sally*: can men and women be friends without having sex?[9](https://www.timeout.com/movies/no-strings-attached)
## Production
The film was produced by The Montecito Picture Company, Katalyst Films, and Handsomecharlie Films, with Ivan Reitman, Joe Medjuck, and Jeffrey Clifford credited as producers.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66748-NO-STRINGS-ATTACHED) Rogier Stoffers was director of photography, Dana E. Glauberman the editor, Ida Random the production designer, and [John Debney](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-debney) composed the score.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66748-NO-STRINGS-ATTACHED) Paramount's home-video press release notes Reitman's earlier directing credit on *Ghost Busters*.[5](https://ir.paramount.com/news-releases/news-release-details/natalie-portman-and-ashton-kutcher-star-hilarious-comedy-asks)
The supporting cast includes [Kevin Kline](https://www.edgepedia.org/kevin-kline) as Alvin, Cary Elwes as Dr. Metzner, [Greta Gerwig](https://www.edgepedia.org/greta-gerwig) as Patrice, Lake Bell as Lucy, Olivia Thirlby as Katie, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as Wallace, and [Mindy Kaling](https://www.edgepedia.org/mindy-kaling).[1](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/no-strings-attached) • [5](https://ir.paramount.com/news-releases/news-release-details/natalie-portman-and-ashton-kutcher-star-hilarious-comedy-asks)
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 47% Tomatometer from 171 reviews and a 51% audience score from more than 50,000 ratings. The site's critics consensus reads: "It benefits from the presence of Natalie Portman and director Ivan Reitman's steady hand, but *No Strings Attached* doesn't have the courage or conviction to follow through on its ribald premise."[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_strings_attached_2011) Reviewers split. [Leonard Maltin](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonard-maltin) observed that, this being a Hollywood romantic comedy, the outcome of a sex-only arrangement is obvious from the get-go, so the film is about the journey rather than the destination.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_strings_attached_2011) Philip French in *The Guardian* called it a "dislikable, distasteful, indifferently acted romantic comedy," while Shubhra Gupta in *The Indian Express* gave it 3 of 5 and wrote that it "energizes the tired romantic comedy genre by combining a pair of comely lovers and lines which leap and fizz."[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_strings_attached_2011) Roger Ebert, the longtime [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic, treated the film as posing a genuine question, whether it is possible to regularly have sex with someone without running a risk of falling in love.[10](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/no-strings-attached-2011)
## The twin-film year
*No Strings Attached* is a case of two films with nearly identical premises released the same year: *Friends With Benefits*, starring [Justin Timberlake](https://www.edgepedia.org/justin-timberlake) and [Mila Kunis](https://www.edgepedia.org/mila-kunis), appeared in 2011 with the same casual-sex premise.[11](https://www.avclub.com/it-s-no-strings-attached-versus-friends-with-benefits-i-1837518578) [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club) drew comparisons to the same-year releases of *Armageddon* and *Deep Impact* and of *Volcano* and *Dante's Peak*, and rated *Friends With Benefits* the superior of the two films.[11](https://www.avclub.com/it-s-no-strings-attached-versus-friends-with-benefits-i-1837518578) According to Time, the two films grossed in the same neighborhood in 2011, though with budgets double or triple the size of that year's sleeper hit *The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel*.[12](https://time.com/3734380/romantic-comedies-senior-citizens/) A decade later, commentators still used the two films as a paired reference point for how Hollywood depicted hookup culture around 2011.[13](https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/hookup-culture-no-strings-attached-friends-with-benefits) A 2013 academic thesis analyzed both films together for what they show about love, sex, and cinema.[14](https://bdm.unb.br/bitstream/10483/9038/1/2013_TuaneAfonsoVasconcelos.pdf)
[Marie Claire](https://www.edgepedia.org/marie-claire) later placed the film on its list of the 100 best romantic comedies.[8](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g4017/best-rom-coms/)
## References
1. [No Strings Attached, Paramount Pictures](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/no-strings-attached)
2. [No Strings Attached (2011), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/66748-NO-STRINGS-ATTACHED)
3. [No Strings Attached (2011), movie.guru](https://movie.guru/no-strings-attached-movie-review)
4. [No Strings Attached (2011), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_strings_attached_2011)
5. [Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher Star in the Hilarious Comedy That Asks Whether Sex Friends Can Be Best Friends: NO STRINGS ATTACHED, Paramount press release](https://ir.paramount.com/news-releases/news-release-details/natalie-portman-and-ashton-kutcher-star-hilarious-comedy-asks)
6. [No Strings Attached, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/no-strings-attached/2030454099/)
7. [No Strings Attached – review, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/feb/27/no-strings-attached-portman-review)
8. [The 100 Best Romantic Comedies of All Time, Marie Claire](https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/g4017/best-rom-coms/)
9. [No Strings Attached 2011, directed by Ivan Reitman, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/no-strings-attached)
10. [Meaningless sex isn't the problem. Meaning is, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/no-strings-attached-2011)
11. [It's No Strings Attached versus Friends With Benefits in a rom-com showdown, The A.V. Club](https://www.avclub.com/it-s-no-strings-attached-versus-friends-with-benefits-i-1837518578)
12. [How the Romantic Comedy for Senior Citizens Became Film's Hippest Genre, Time](https://time.com/3734380/romantic-comedies-senior-citizens/)
13. [A Decade Later, How Much Did 'No Strings Attached' and 'Friends with Benefits' Get Right About Hookup Culture?, MEL Magazine](https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/hookup-culture-no-strings-attached-friends-with-benefits)
14. [Tuane Afonso Vasconcelos (2013), love, sex and cinema: No Strings Attached and Friends With Benefits, University of Brasília](https://bdm.unb.br/bitstream/10483/9038/1/2013_TuaneAfonsoVasconcelos.pdf)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2011 to 2012 › Released in 2011*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license