''Just Friends'' is a 2005

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

romantic

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

film directed by Roger Kumble, written by Adam 'Tex' Davis and starring

Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian and American actor, producer and businessman. Known for starring in comedic and superhero films, he was the List of highest-paid film actors, world's second-highest-paid actor in 202 ...

, Amy Smart,

Anna Faris Anna Kay Faris ( ; born November 29, 1976) is an American actress. Known for playing comedic roles, she rose to prominence with the lead part of Cindy Campbell in the Scary Movie (film series), ''Scary Movie'' films (2000–2006). Her film credi ...

, Chris Klein and Christopher Marquette. The plot focuses on a formerly obese high school student (Reynolds) who attempts to free himself from the

friend zone In popular culture, the friend zone (or friendzone) is a relational concept, describing a situation in which one person in a mutual friendship wishes to enter into a Intimate relationship, romantic or sexual relationship with the other per ...

after reconnecting with his best friend (Smart), with whom he is in love while visiting his hometown for Christmas. The film revolves around humorous observation of strictly platonic relationships as "just friends" or "just as best friends". Davis's screenplay for ''Just Friends'' was initially optioned in 2001 by

New Line Cinema New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...

, and was inspired by numerous elements of his own life.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

took place in early 2005 in Los Angeles as well as Regina and

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the List of cities in Saskatchewan, fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina, Saskatchewan, Re ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada. The film was an international co-production between the United States, Canada, and Germany. ''Just Friends'' was released on November 23, 2005, and grossed over $50 million. It received mixed reviews from film critics, but has developed a

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

in the years since its release.

Plot

In 1995,

obese Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classified as obese when ...

high school senior Chris Brander is secretly in love with his classmate and best friend Jamie Palamino. Confessing his feelings by writing in her

yearbook A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of Annual publication, a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually ...

, he attends their graduation party. As he returns Jamie's yearbook, it is swapped by her ex-boyfriend, Tim, who reads the declaration aloud to everyone, humiliating Chris. After kissing him on the cheek, Jamie admits she does not reciprocate his affections. He leaves the party in tears, announcing he will never return and vowing to be more successful than everyone else. Ten years later, a womanizing Chris has lost weight and lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

as a successful record producer and vice president of the company. Before Christmas, company CEO KC asks him to accompany emerging pop singer Samantha James to Paris so she signs with their label, and Chris reluctantly complies. She wants a relationship with him but he has no interest after their only date previously led to his hospitalization. On the way to Paris, Samantha accidentally sets her private jet on fire, causing an emergency landing in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, near Chris' hometown. Chris takes Samantha to his mother's for the night and re-engages with his teenage past, including his unresolved feelings for Jamie. She meets his mother and 18-year-old brother Mike, a fan of Samantha. At a bar, he also sees Jamie, working as a bartender to pay for graduate school for teaching. Chris asks Mike to keep Samantha busy during his date with Jamie, but realizing their platonic friendship is important to him hampers his plan for them to have sex. During a friendly ice skating "day date", Chris is taken away in an ambulance after injuring himself during a hockey game. At the scene, Jamie is reunited with Dusty Dinkleman, a paramedic and former high school classmate also in love with her. Realizing Dusty only wants revenge sex with her, Chris tries to warn Jamie but instead attacks Dusty in front of her. She refuses to listen when he tries to explain. Consequently, he gets drunk and goes to Jamie's bar, finding her there with Dusty. When she gently declines Dusty's sexual advances, he storms out. Chris and Jamie get into another fight, where he blames her for keeping him in the "

" and says she will never amount to anything. Furious, Jamie strikes Chris and he is tossed out. Upon returning to Los Angeles and rejecting Samantha again, Chris realizes that Jamie is his true love. He returns to New Jersey, declares his love to her and they kiss.

Cast

Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, she became a cultural phenomenon during the mid 199 ...

, then Reynolds' fiancée, made a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

as "herself" as a former client of his character. This came about when the casting director said "We need an Alanis Morissette type" and Reynolds said he knew someone who would fit. This scene was deleted, however, and is only available on the DVD.

Production

Development

Adam 'Tex' Davis wrote the screenplay for ''Just Friends'' based on a platonic friendship he had with a young woman in college. The majority of the screenplay, including the familial relationships and New Jersey setting, were drawn from Davis's own life. Davis's manager, Chris Bender, presented the screenplay to

executive Richard Brenner, who was impressed by the screenplay and optioned it for a feature film around 2001. Around 2004, Roger Kumble was hired to direct the project. The film was an international co-production, produced by Bender's production company Benderspink, as well as the German-based Cinerenta and the Canadian company Cinezeta.

Casting

Prior to Reynolds's casting as the lead,

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an Americans, American comedian, television host, actor, singer, writer, and producer. Best known for his work in television, Fallon's breakthrough came during his tenure as a cast member on the ...

and

Bradley Cooper Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and three Grammy Awards. In addition, he has been nominated for twelve Acade ...

were considered for the role of Chris Brenner. Anna Faris was cast as Samantha James; Kumble recalled of casting her: "I met with nnaand we grab a coffee and she asks, “What is this character in your mind?” And Tex wrote it, but at the time, it’s Lindsay ohanand

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

ilton Ilton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south-east of Taunton, and north of Ilminster. The village has a population of 854. The parish includes the Hamlet (place), hamlets of Ilford and Cad Green with its 16th-cent ...

and all of them and Britney pearsand throw in some

amphetamine Amphetamine (contracted from Alpha and beta carbon, alpha-methylphenethylamine, methylphenethylamine) is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, an ...

s and put it in a blender and that’s Samantha James. And she totally got it." Hilton herself had auditioned for the role of James at one point. Chris Klein was cast in the role of Dusty Dinkelman based on his comedic performances in ''

Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

'' and '' American Pie'' (both 1999).

Filming

''Just Friends'' was shot in

and parts of Regina and

. According to Davis and Kumble, Reynolds and Faris improvised during the filming of many of their scenes together.

Music

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

was released November 22, 2005 on New Line Records. ;Track listing #

Ben Lee Benjamin Michael Lee (born 11 September 1978) is an Australian musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but he focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He app ...

– " Catch My Disease" #

Fountains of Wayne Fountains of Wayne is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young (drummer), Brian Young. They released six album ...

– "Hackensack" #

Rogue Wave A rogue wave is an abnormally large ocean wave. Rogue wave may also refer to: * Optical rogue waves, are rare pulses of light analogous to rogue or freak ocean waves. * Rogue Wave Software, a software company * Rogue Wave (band), an American in ...

– "Eyes" # Anna Faris (as Samantha James) – "Forgiveness" # Brendan Benson – "Cold Hands (Warm Heart)" # Robbers on High Street – "Big Winter" # The Sights – "Waiting on a Friend" # Reed Foehl – "When It Comes Around" #

The Lemonheads The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily, and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member. After their initial punk-influenced releases and tours as an indep ...

– "Into Your Arms" # 'Just Friends' Holiday Players – "Christmas, Christmas" # "Dusty 'Lee' Dinkleman" – "Jamie Smiles" # Anna Faris (as Samantha James) – "Love from Afar" # Jeff Cardoni – "Just Friends Score Medley" #

All-4-One All-4-One is an American male R&B and pop group best known for their hit singles " I Swear", " So Much in Love" and " I Can Love You Like That". The group is composed of Jamie Jones, Delious Kennedy, Alfred Nevarez, and Tony Borowiak, all fro ...

– " I Swear" #

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Billboard Hot 100, top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation (song), Anticipatio ...

– "Coming Around Again"

Original songs performed in the film

# "Forgiveness", performed multiple times by Anna Faris. # "Jamie Smiles", performed multiple times by Chris Klein # "Love from Afar", performed by Anna Faris and Renee Sandstrom # "Just a Guy", performed by Anna Faris (only on the Alternate Ending) Most songs in the film were written by Adam Schiff, except "When Jamie Smiles", which was written by H. Scott Salinas. The orchestral score was written by Jeff Cardoni, and orchestrated by Stephen Coleman and Tony Blondal.

Release

''Just Friends'' was released theatrically in the United States on November 23, 2005, the day before

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

Home media

New Line Home Entertainment released ''Just Friends'' on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

on March 7, 2006. The initial DVD sales for the film totaled $26,618,828. In Canada,

Alliance Atlantis Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. (commonly known as Alliance Atlantis) was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operator in Canada. Alliance Atlantis also had offices in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Los ...

released a

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

edition on February 2, 2010. The Warner Archive Collection released the film on Blu-ray in the United States on April 8, 2025.

Lawsuit

In 2011, the film's Canadian financiers sued its international distributor Inferno Distribution, alleging producer William Vince (who died in 2008) had absconded with $3.6 million in Canadian

tax shelter Tax shelters are any method of reducing taxable income resulting in a reduction of the payments to tax collecting entities, including state and federal governments. The methodology can vary depending on local and international tax laws. Types of ...

credits from the province of Saskatchewan, where much of the film was shot, and that Inferno failed to pay back their promised sum of $7,694,100. Cinezeta Internationale had helped finance the film with $9 million in equity funding as well as an additional $9 million in the form of a revolving production loan. A judge ultimately ruled that Inferno pay the $3,427,914.44 shortfall to Cinezeta.

Reception

Box office

''Just Friends'' earned $9.3 million during its opening over the Thanksgiving weekend in the United States, ranking number six at the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

. It grossed $32.6 million domestically, and $18.3 million in other territories, for a box office total of $50.9 million.

Critical response

''Just Friends'' received mixed reviews from critics. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

was unimpressed by the film, awarding it a one out of five star-rating.

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' also disliked the film, writing that it "hangs its crude, clobbering sense of humor on a dubious theory. Once a boy and a girl have entered the "friend zone" in a relationship, there's no turning it into sweet romance. Translated into the movie's loutish high school mentality, that means no you-know-what." Stephen Hunter of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' noted that Faris " riesvery hard" playing a "a would-be

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, Love has had a career spanning four decades. She rose to promi ...

," but felt Smart was "the best thing in the film," before concluding: "Kumble doesn't have great material, but that's okay, because he's not greatly talented. The director lacks the crazed gift for physical comedy that, say, the Farrelly brothers have, and only a few sequences of shtick really work. I like, however, his lack of sentimentality: Instead of idealizing Chris's relationship with an adoring little brother and a vacant mom, Kumble demonizes them, pushing each deep into violent

black humor Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

." ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

''s Ty Burr praised Faris's performance and likened the film to a "low-rent rip-off of ''

There's Something About Mary ''There's Something About Mary'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by the Farrelly brothers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ed Decter and John J. Strauss. The film features Cameron Diaz as the title character, while Ben S ...

''," noting that it "reminds this '80s survivor of the rambunctious teen comedies directed by

Savage Steve Holland Savage Steve Holland (born 1960) is an American film and television director, writer, producer, animator and voice actor most known for directing ''Better Off Dead (film), Better Off Dead'' (1985) and ''One Crazy Summer'' (1986), starring John ...

and starring the young

John Cusack John Paul Cusack ( ; born June 28, 1966)(28 June 1996)Today's birthdays ''Santa Cruz Sentinel'', ("Actors John Cusack is 30") is an American actor. With a career spanning over four decades, he has appeared in over 80 films. He began acting in f ...

— films such as '' Better Off Dead'' and '' One Crazy Summer''. Those weren't art, and neither is this. But they were cheerful and inventive and sloppily assured—and so is this." Helen O'Hara of ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'' gave the film a favorable review, praising Reynolds and Faris's performances. Stella Papamichael of

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

also praised Faris's performance, concluding of the film: "It's not subtle—in fact, at times it's plain unwieldy—but ''Just Friends'' is still big on laughs.

References

External links

* * * {{Roger Kumble 2005 films 2005 romantic comedy films American black comedy films American romantic comedy films American Christmas comedy films American coming-of-age comedy films Canadian black comedy films Canadian romantic comedy films Canadian Christmas comedy films Canadian coming-of-age comedy films English-language Christmas comedy films English-language German films English-language romantic comedy films Films about siblings Films about families Films directed by Roger Kumble Films scored by Jeff Cardoni Films set in the 1990s Films set in 1995 Films set in the 2000s Films set in 2005 Films set in New Jersey Films shot in Saskatchewan German black comedy films German romantic comedy films German Christmas comedy films German coming-of-age comedy films New Line Cinema films 2000s Christmas films 2000s Christmas comedy films 2000s coming-of-age comedy films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films