stormwatch-2 I was privileged to be able to catch this movie at the recent HELL'S HALF MILE FILM FESTIVAL in Bay City, Michigan. The night before the screening I had the honor of meeting the director and two of his actors, who kindly came to my own screening. Not only were they awesome people, they were truly genuine and great to be around. I live in Los Angeles. This does not exist there.Friends (with Benefits) is a movie with premise that my sound familiar. Let's face it. there are very few new ideas. But dammit, I watched this movie unfold, thinking I knew exactly where it was going...and each time, I was wonderfully incorrect. The writing was crisp and biting, the direction was assured and innovative, the actors delivered wonderfully comic, tragic and SEXY performances and I literally sat there drinking it all in. I was truly sorry it ended when it did.Special kudos go to Alex Brown and Lynn Mancinelli...and NOT just because I got to meet them and get to know them at the festival, but because their performances were STANDOUTS. What each of them can do with just a look can destroy you. These are definitely two to keep an eye on...and lucky for us, Gorman Bechard is already making that happen.What ever you do, check this movie out. You'll be awful glad you did. I am proud to call these filmmakers my friends. How cool is that?~Scott Storm

Edward Fernandez I must admit that these type of movies are very predictable. However, I was caught totally off guard by "Friends with Benefits". Just when you really think you know the characters, suddenly an unexpected twist and turn. Friends with Benefits was a very entertaining movie. Excellent production value, with an attractive cast, witty humor and really surprising situations. I love movies that go for the throat and friends with benefits achieved this hands down. Some say that laughing is great for the soul. If so, then watch this movie and enjoy all the benefits(with your friends of course)... I look forward to more movies like this. Bravo.

gracybee i thought that this movie was beautifully shot. i have seen and read almost all of mr.bechards books and films and it was nice to see a departure from the gloom and doom. i thought that jake Alexander and lynn mancinelli were stellar actors. very natural. it definitely made me think of being in similar situations with very similar outcomes. the delicious twists and turns were a nice surprise and added some spice to the plot. i would love to see a sequel that focused on the friends of the lead characters. i was really intrigued with their story line and wanted to know more about them. all in all i recommend this movie and all it's quirkiness. it also has a stellar soundtrack that was well thought out. congrats to the cast and crew for making an entertainingly funny movie.

SoSickOfTheRain After many years of wonderful but exceedingly depressing films (You Are Alone) and novels (Good Neighbors, Unwound, 9th Square), filmmaker Gorman Bechard returns to his comedy roots (Psychos in Love, and his wonderful first two novels, The Second Greatest Story Ever Told and Balls) with Friends With Benefits, a movie that is billed as a romantic comedy, but is so so so much more.I was lucky enough to get a screener of this film to coincide with the world premiere at STIFF last week. Though I couldn't make it to Seattle, I nonetheless watched the movie on Friday evening, as if I were there.You know it's a Bechard film right off the bat when some of the first words out of any character's mouth are "The Replacements, Husker Du, Archers of Loaf." That made me smile. It also assured me another rocking the free world soundtrack was approaching quickly. The StarSpangles kicked things off during the opening credits! Side note: the rights to the songs in this film would cost the average Hollywood studio a good quarter million dollars, and yet the budget here for the entire film was less than that. So it certainly says a lot about Bechard's film-making abilities that bands of this magnitude trust him with their music, and want to be a part of his films. That speaks volumes.Friends is a simple enough story at heart. A boy and a girl, Owen and Chloe, friends since childhood, both now in med school, both too busy for romance, decide to become friends with benefits, and have no strings attached sex, to at least lessen their burden of horniness. Of course, they've been secretly in love with each other forever, and thus the problems begin.And though they certainly do have their issues, it's nothing compared to their four friends, who at first warn them of the dangers of sleeping with your friends, until of course the temptation becomes unbearable.I won't reveal what happened next, but will say that about the half-way point I thought, oh, no, I can't believe Bechard is going there. Such a cliché. Well, he did...but then within second, he went one step farther, the cliché was slaughtered, and all was well with the world. Friends With Benefits crosses the line, wonderfully and comically. I won't say which line, but trust me; you'll know it when you get to it.I was trying to think of a good comparison to other movies, and I would have to say it contains the best raunchy humor of a Judd Aptow film combined with the sweetness of the best romantic comedies like The Wedding Singer, or The Sure Thing. It's a marvelous story (with amazing music) about love and lust and longing and sexual identity, and it so rings true to life because damn if me and everyone I know didn't experiment a little in college. It IS true to life. The acting is great. The cast is adorable. I want to go for a drink with Alison. I want to do dirty things to Owen. I don't know if the band in the film really play together, but they sure seem as if they do. The editing by Bechard and Ashley McGarry, also his writing and producing partner on the project, is fast and furious. Amazing use of split screens!!! The script is crisp, with dialog that real people would actually speak. The movie looks amazing.OK, if I were to nitpick, the first 10 minutes are a little slow. But then, the first 10 minutes of most indie films are slow. Hell, most indie films are slow, period. And I'm not in love with one of the small supporting roles, but we're talking a few lines of dialog. It's not horrible, just not as great as the leads. Okay, I really thought Jessica Bohl in You Are Alone was the greatest unknown casting find of all time, but Bechard and McGarry somehow managed to find a half dozen unknowns as talented as Bohl. Don't know how, just hope it continues.But really, once you get to Owen on his knees -- oh, damn, the dirty thoughts again -- suggesting that he and Chloe add some benefits to their friendship, well, the movie soars, it flies, and before you know it you're wiping a few tears from your eyes right before the end credits roll, then laughing again when an early joke finally receives its punch line AFTER the end credits.Yes, I am a fan of Gorman Bechard. And though he really only seems to have a cult following, those that get his work truly "get it". The reviews of Alone or Psychos here on IMDb, or the reviews of his novels on Amazon prove that. One day the world will know what us few already do, Bechard knows how to tell a story, how to make you think, care, laugh, cry, how to turn you on. He's the best kept secret in the entertainment world. Friends With Benefits is just another great example of that. To paraphrase Chloe, it rocked!