The Couch Critics
The Couch Critics is your laid-back guide to movies and TV shows that deserve your attention—or maybe don’t. Nathan, along with a rotating door of eclectic co-hosts, dives deep into storytelling, character development, and cinematic style with a sharp eye and a wry sense of humor. Whether it’s a blockbuster hit, a hidden gem, or a cult classic, Nathan’s relatable approach ensures every episode feels like a cozy chat with a friend who just happens to love film. Perfect for casual watchers and cinephiles alike, The Couch Critics bring thoughtful critique without the fluff. Grab your favorite snack, settle in, and let Nathan and friends guide you through the world of screen entertainment.
The Couch Critics
Just Friends: A Rewatch Reckoning
Snow on the ground, carols in the air… and a rom‑com that might not actually be a Christmas movie. We sat down with Mitch and Lexie to revisit Just Friends and test how well Ryan Reynolds’ early-career charm, Anna Faris’ unhinged pop-star chaos, and a small-town reunion hold up in 2025. The result? A spirited split: one of us loves the quotable gags and brotherly slapstick, one rejects the romance and questions the holiday label, and one rides the middle—laughing at the best bits while admitting the jokes show their age.
We dig into what makes a movie feel genuinely “holiday.” Is Christmas a theme that shapes choices and change, or just cozy set dressing? That question drives our Christmas rating, which lands far below our general score. Along the way, we unpack why the film works as a Ryan Reynolds vehicle—sharp timing, smug-sincere line reads, the prototype of his later persona—and where it wobbles: a thin love interest for Amy Smart, set pieces that tip into cartoon logic, and era-specific humor that doesn’t always translate. Anna Faris gets her flowers for sheer comedic bravery, even as we debate when “too much” breaks the spell.
Context matters, so we place Just Friends in the late-’90s/early-’00s teen-rom-com pipeline, where big archetypes and fast banter reigned. That lens explains the nostalgia—and the friction—on a rewatch. We also share favorite lines and scenes, from the “I’m stuffed” water gag to sibling skirmishes that feel painfully real, proving how quotability fuels rewatch culture. If you’re building a holiday queue, we help you decide: comfort watch for Reynolds fans, or skip if you want a story with Christmas baked into its core.
Stream the episode, rate the movie with us, and tell us: Christmas classic or rom‑com in a Santa sweater? If you enjoy the show, follow, share with a movie-loving friend, and leave a quick review—your feedback helps more listeners find The Couch Critics.
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On the couch with a laugh and crying feeling it all Breaking down the big screen, the hits and the floor. Have your seat, let's play, let's take the picture. Light camera action, it's the couch critic.
SPEAKER_03:Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Couch Critics. I'm your host, Nathan, and on today's episode, I'm joined not by one, but two special guests. They're not really special guests because they've been on the show before. These are my good friends, Mitch and Lexi. Hi, Mitch. Hello. Hi, Lexi.
SPEAKER_01:Hello.
SPEAKER_03:How y'all doing? I'm comfortable right now. Yeah. Comfortable. Good. Good. That's good. Awesome. Well, you know what? Let's just get started. So we are on our Christmas journey over not over a hundred, but about a hundred Christmas movies. We've gone through the list pretty quickly. Last couple episodes ago, I said I could not find the Whoopi Goldberg Christmas classic Call Me Claws Anywhere. But it will be releasing December 1st on ToBie Toobie. So I'll be watching that for free because just by the trailer, it doesn't seem like something I would want to buy or rent. I I'm already gonna say I'm probably not gonna like it. But no, I love that movie. It just doesn't seem like it's gonna be. But you also didn't like a Christmas story, Lexi. So I don't trust your judgment when it comes to Christmas movies.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, just because I do not like a Christmas story because it's so old and outdone, doesn't mean nothing. Well, and you also thought I wouldn't like Jingle Jingle. I did, and you end up loving it. So you know what?
SPEAKER_03:I don't trust, I don't trust your judgment of what I would like and what you like. So let's see. Well let's see what you think of today's movie, though, because we're talking about the Ryan Reynolds, I guess, Christmas classic, just friends. And before we can talk about our likes, dislikes, and doesn't even necessarily need to be considered a Christmas movie, I have to go over the synopsis. While visiting his hometown during Christmas, a man comes face to face with his old high school crush and best friend, a woman whose rejection of him turned him into a voracious womanizer. Just Friends stars Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Ferris, and Chris Klein. So I obviously had seen this movie before. It's been a while, so I re-watched it. I actually own it on DVD. So that should tell you right there that I all already enjoy this movie. But Mitch, Lexi, what did you think of this 2005 classic? Lexi, ladies first.
SPEAKER_01:You want me to go first? You want me to go first? Okay, so I'm gonna set this up for you. I enjoy a good rom-com. I like the romance, I like the the story of the the guy who gets the girl that he was never meant to be together, or the girl gets together, you're never meant to be together. The love don't cost a thing type of relationships. I love those stories. I hate this movie.
SPEAKER_03:Oh my gosh. Wow. This is not okay. Seriously, but you like you like Call Me Claus.
SPEAKER_01:I do like Call Me Claws, but see, Call Me Claws was a classic in my family. You gotta understand the reason why I like Call Me Claus. It's pro Call Me Claus for me is what a Christmas story sounds like for you. That was the family movie for us. So I am biased towards that movie. But just friends, I hate it. It's trash. I hate the storyline. I still don't understand how they end up together in the end. It was ugh. I don't like it. I'm sorry. And I don't consider it a Christmas movie. He was just so happy to be home during Christmas time.
SPEAKER_02:Well, that's a question. Did did you j like did you watch it? Was it like the first time you watched it? Or did you watch it back in?
SPEAKER_01:I rewatched it again. So I when I first watched it, I remember actually liking it back in the day. And now I guess re-watching it, I just have a different opinion.
SPEAKER_03:So why did you originally like it? Do you remember?
SPEAKER_01:I'm pretty sure. So what 2005 Alexis was a sucker from a good love story, so it was probably because of the love story, which is funny because it's the reason why I hate it as an adult, Alexis.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, because apparently you don't understand the love story now, which is crazy. Because 2005, this makes me feel old, is when I graduated high school.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, I was in middle school, so that probably why middle school Lexi liked that movie. Yeah, she had no vision watching it.
SPEAKER_03:Well, once again, we have a movie that Lexi totally hated. I'm assuming Mitch, you enjoyed this movie. Let's see.
SPEAKER_02:I love I love this movie. It's it's Ryan Reynolds, it's Ryan Reynolds at his at his most like the beginning. Like the people when people think of Ryan Reynolds today, they think of Deadpool and stuff. No, I think of Van Wilder and Just Friends. Those are those are my core movies with him. This he's so funny in this. I feel like this, these are they're both his breakout roles. They came out around the same time. And in this one, especially, he is just all sorts of funny. And the Ryan Reynolds wit, you know, it is born in in this movie. Also, MVP of the film, I adore Anna Ferris. I'll watch anything she's in. Every year at Christmas time, I I posted my Facebook status, small people, they come and go. Small people, they just don't know. I love she she has such a range in comedy, and that's you know, she is the more outlandish. She's she comes from the scary movies. And I don't know if you guys have ever watched mom, the sitcom that she was the lead in. It's so good. I'm I'm only just now discovering it. Brooke and I have been watching it. We're almost done, but she she is fantastic in everything she does. What else? It's yeah, it came out. I was a junior, so it was definitely the movie that we were all talking about. His relationship with his brother Mike, uh played by Chris Marquette. That's you know, having grown up with brothers where you're always trying to get the last hit and the last stuff. You know, it's I think it hits all the right notes in terms of just being a really good, funny movie and a and a decent love story as well. So yeah, it I I watch it every year.
SPEAKER_01:I'm starting to believe the age difference between us three is why we disliked like the same movie.
SPEAKER_03:Maybe. I mean, I wasn't I wasn't alive when a Christmas story came out. I just grew up watching it on like Team T and TBS. But anyway, um, with this movie though, I I still laughed at the same parts I laughed at, you know, the beginning itself with Ryan Reynolds in the fat suit singing ice like lip syncing Icewear. Classic! It's classic. I mean to me, to me, you know, using the word classic, you don't want to use it too loosely. But I do think this is a classic Ryan Reynolds movie. I don't think it's a classic movie, I don't even think it's a classic Christmas movie because I do agree with Lexi, and and we'll get uh more into that when we do our ratings. But I do think it's a classic Ryan Reynolds movie. Because just like Mitch said, it's one of the first times that you see Ryan Reynolds being Ryan Reynolds, and just the way he delivers all his lines, is just very fun. I mean, it's it's a very quotable movie, like the part where they go to the diner and he doesn't want to eat the pan, uh the pancakes. So he picks up the water and says, I'll just enjoy this water. And he takes a sip and says, I'm stuffed. I mean, it's just it's like those little moments that are just classic lines in this movie. And then we're forgetting to mention Chris Klein in this movie. I I think he's really funny as well. I I think he's more funny at the beginning when he's playing like the nerdy version of himself, and he's trying to play the song and his guitar keeps messing up. I wasn't a big fan of his character later on, which you're not supposed to be. If you haven't seen the movie, you you don't know what I'm talking about. But if you haven't seen the movie, I mean, come on, go watch it. But I think it has just a lot of classic moments in it, like you said, the brother dynamic, very funny, very over the top, and very much like a sibling thing going on, and it makes and it makes sense and it's believable. And I I especially love like near the end when when it's Christmas, and they just have that little cute little brother moment, like, I love you, I love you too. Like they're eating the cookies, the Christmas stuff, and it's just funny. Like, I uh you know, and I can understand Lexi, I can understand her point of view of there, there are things in it that are kind of dated, and I think that's maybe that's what you're going for, and that's why you don't enjoy it as much because there is some jokes that are dated. The Ana Ferris character is a little too much at times, which is funny because I was reading like the the trivia of this movie, and Ana Ferris apparently to keep up the appearance of that character, she drank a lot of Red Bulls a lot during the filming of this movie. So, like, I did feel like her character was a little bit much at times. So I could totally understand why someone would watch this and not enjoy it. But at the same time, if you just look at it for like Mitch said, one of the first times we see Ryan Reynolds playing that type of Ryan Reynolds character, I think it's a again, it's a classic Ryan Reynolds film and it is a lot of fun. But with everything we like, there has to be something we don't like, and I already kind of mentioned it with my Anna Ferris character idea. So before we get into uh Lexi's dislikes, which is probably the whole movie, Mitch, since you actually enjoyed it, what is something that you did not like about this?
SPEAKER_02:It gets outlandish at times. The the the big scene where Anna Ferris's character was just like, I'm gonna get you fired. It just it it kind of pulls itself out of reality. Like, I I'm okay with there being with it being outlandish as long as it kind of stays a little grounded, but there are moments in this movie where you did that you get lifted completely out of everything, and that's one of those, I think. And then with no resolution, like it comes at a weird time in the movie. I feel like it kind of messes up the pace of the end a little bit. So moments like that, and yes, Lexi, I would agree, like a movie like Just Friends can't would never be made in 2025. Like what it is, it is a it is a uh what's the word, it's a product of its time. It it it could it couldn't be made today. It's it's nostalgic. It is the you know, but we said the Ryan Reynolds, it is the beginning of Ryan Reynolds, but though those those outlandish moments I find to be what takes us out of it because there's some real like you said, there's really funny moments, the brothers, everything we we've hit on those, but yeah, it's those it's those outrageous moments that make me kind of go. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So Lexi, you completely hated this movie. So, and I mean you can get it go into why you disliked it so thoroughly, but I'm interested to know is there anything you enjoyed the second time watching it?
SPEAKER_01:I will say I enjoy Ryan Ryan Reynolds being Ryan Reynolds. But if you take Ryan Reynolds out of that movie, the movie is no good. Like he makes the movie, and sometimes he actually made me dislike the movie. I love his character. Amy Smart was okay. So yeah, I like Ryan.
SPEAKER_02:Amy Smart kind of sorry, sorry to cut shot, like I feel like Amy Smart plays the same character in everything. He's one of those.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah. So I did enjoy it. It was funny. It just it does it doesn't feel like a romance rom-com to me, and it doesn't feel like a Christmas movie for me, if that makes any sense.
SPEAKER_03:No, yeah, yeah. And and like I said, we'll talk a little bit more about like should it be really considered or does it need to be considered a Christmas movie? All that fun stuff. But I will say Amy Smart plays, you know, your typical love interests character. She doesn't really do much, doesn't really add much to the movie. I think it this is very much a Ryan Reynolds-led film. I think I'm thinking this movie was like written for him, and he was probably the first person they had in mind to play this character. And so, yeah, I think he he makes the movie, he makes the movie something that you want to watch because his character is so you know compelling and funny and over the top at times, and you know, yeah, so there's that. But like I said, this movie is very dated. There is some there's obviously some content in it, but I was like, okay, that's a little too much, too. It's rated PG 13. I don't know. It could be rated R nowadays. I don't know, just some of the content in it.
SPEAKER_01:I was like, it reminds me of oh gosh, please. I hope the critics don't hate me. In a bad way, it reminds me of another teen movie.
SPEAKER_02:Not another teen movie, that one, yes.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, where it was overdone, where some of the jokes are overdone anyway. That's what it was, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It definitely came out at the latter end of the teen movie era, like what we you know, we had great things, like let's use that 10, like 95 to 2005. We had movies like 10 things I hate about you, mean girls, obviously. Yeah, it's another big one. Uh can't can't hardly wait. Uh you drive me crazy. Yeah, I knew it once I started, they'd start flowing. And so those are ones that bring it on. And bring it on, but that's a whole that's a whole nother topic. You know, if we talked about Bring It On, Bring It On could not be made today at all, just from the language in it. So it came the this one came out at the latter end of that where I think not another teen movie had already come out. So the trope was already there, people were already over it, it was tired.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and I will say there is like one scene, and we as as we were talking, there's one scene in this movie that I feel like could have been left on the cutting room floor because I I really feel like it was just random, and I guess it introduces the reason why Ryan Reynolds, you know, goes and gets stuck in his hometown. But the whole scene with his manager, KC, played by Steven Root, as I when I watched it again, I'm like, this scene just seems really random. And and that's like the scene where they introduced the really weird poster with Anna Ferris on it and eating a banana. And I was like, this scene doesn't really need to be in this movie, but that's neither here nor there. I just thought I'd randomly bring that up.
SPEAKER_01:So also random fact, random fact that absolutely nothing to do with this conversation. But just for y'all to know, for Ryan Reynolds movie, my first one was the in-laws, if that makes anything else make more sense about how I was introduced to Ryan Reynolds.
SPEAKER_03:I don't think I've seen that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that was my first one.
SPEAKER_03:So what did you think of that one?
SPEAKER_01:I love that one.
SPEAKER_03:Well, now I have to go watch it and see if I like it or not.
SPEAKER_01:And maybe you probably won't.
SPEAKER_03:Yes. I found that you know, you you and me are kind of like how Taj and I are. Like, we I like a movie, he hates a movie. He likes a movie, I hate a movie. So I feel like I feel like you and I have that kind of movie relationship too.
SPEAKER_01:But uh unless it's action, we've been kind of close on the action movie.
SPEAKER_03:That's true. And I think, yeah, I think me and Taj are like that too. Like he and I usually agree on you know action stuff too. But those are our thoughts on just friends. So let's go ahead and rate this thing. We've already kind of talked about it a little bit, so let's talk about it a little bit more with our Christmas rating of just friends. Now, this does feel like a movie that if you took Christmas out of it, you could still have the same plot line. You don't really need Christmas to make this the kind of and like the list of movies that you just said, Mitch, you know, like they're all very similar in in some aspects. And so this movie I feel like doesn't necessarily need Christmas to be a Just Friends movie. So I'm gonna give Christmas rating, I'm gonna give Just Friends a 2.5 out of five stars. And Lexi, you listeners, you can't see what Lexi's doing right now, but she's making a face, and I'm very interested. I was gonna let Mitch go next, but I'm very interested to know what Lexi's gonna say. Lexi, what would you give Just Friends as a Christmas rating? Zero. Why am I not surprised? This is a Christmas story all over again.
SPEAKER_01:Well, at least the Christmas story felt like a Christmas movie, it was just overdone for me. This to me, I feel like they just ran out of something to put, you know, like, oh yeah, we're just gonna throw it in in Christmas time.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:It doesn't feel like a Christmas story. I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, yeah, no, I agree. I'm just not gonna give it as as low as that. Because there are moments in it that just like with another movie that we mentioned this with, it it does have glimpses of the hope of Christmas, and it has glimpses of like togetherness and and peace on earth, towards men, you know, it has those little little moments, like very minuscule, very little moments. If you blink, you miss them. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01:I'm trying not to spoil it, but what moment? But okay, we'll talk about this later on the off the record.
SPEAKER_03:And the happiness that's there. So, Mitch, what would you give?
SPEAKER_01:The happiness that was forced because they wasn't really a couple, okay.
SPEAKER_03:I'm since high school.
SPEAKER_01:Oh good.
SPEAKER_03:So, Mitch, what would you give Just Friends as a Christmas movie? Not as a general, as a Christmas movie.
SPEAKER_02:As a Christmas movie, I feel like it is, yeah, like oh, what like to say, oh, let's set it at Christmas time. It could have been anything. Oh, let's set it at the mom's birthday. Oh, let's set it at the anniversary of blah blah blah. It could there could have been something, another event that could like insert event here. And I think that the writer went, type, type, type, type, type. Christmas. Yeah, it wasn't like this was rooted out in Christmas, but it still has. I I do agree with mate in a way that it's uh it does have Christmas elements in it that do they're they're kind of they're sprinkled throughout the movie. So I I wouldn't give it a zero. I would probably I would give it I'd give it a solid two.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, and and the and the thing is it doesn't it's not a movie that necessarily needs like an event tied to it, it could have just been a coherent storyline about people who were friends in high school and stuff happens and they end up together. Spoiler alert. So those are our Christmas ratings. So, Lexi, I'm gonna let you go first for your general reading.
SPEAKER_01:What do you think of this? You want my old Alexis' opinion or my new Alexis? Like can't Alex's re-watching it after re-watching it, a one. I'm sorry. It's a you don't carry it your opinion. It's a Ryan's Reynolds movie, and if you take Ryan Reynolds out of it, it's no movie. Like Amy Smart, she did nothing for the movie. Right. Like she's there. She's just there. Maybe I would enjoy it. And you know what? If they had a better love interest, maybe I would have enjoyed that movie better. It's not even Ryan Reynolds who I don't like. I don't like her.
SPEAKER_03:There you go. See, you're allowed to have your a differing opinion. Like see, I mean, I don't understand why you need to feel the need to apologize.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know.
SPEAKER_03:I don't want to keep apologizing. So, Mitch, what did you think of this movie in general?
SPEAKER_02:In general, I think it's it's a it's a fun movie. It's it's fun, it's funny, it's quotable. And with a movie like that, with a movie like this, that's what you want. You know, that's what they're looking for. You'll always be fat to me. Like you said, stop. Uh, what are some other oh my god? I mean, there's so many quotable lines in this movie. The song Forgiveness from Anna Ferris. Like, I love Anna Ferris in this movie. I mean, yes, there are moments when she does get way over the top, and it's like, okay, like bring it back. But I love her in this. I'm I would give it a I'm gonna give it a solid 3.5. 3.5 is where I think it needs, and honestly, and that's me factoring in nostalgia, factoring in Ryan Reynolds. And like see, yes, the movie wouldn't work without Ryan Reynolds, but I feel like it was written for him. Like, there are certain movies that just wouldn't work with other people that that no matter who they put in it, it wouldn't work, you know. Sometimes it's insert actors, sometimes it's we have the actor, what do we do around that actor? You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and like you said, with the popularity of Van Walder, I don't know which one came out first, but I'm assuming it's it was Van Wilder. And so yeah, they were probably like, let's of course, let's bring Ryan Reynolds into this. So I'm going to agree with you with a 3.5 out of five, because like I said, this there are some dated jokes in it. And and some people, you know, nowadays might think it's offensive that Ryan Reynolds was in a fat suit, you know, because that's the society we live in. But yeah, I I do think it's very funny. I laughed at the same parts. I thought it would still have that I consider somewhat of a charm to it. And yeah, it was just fun. It was a fun movie. So I am glad this was on this list of Christmas movies, even though we kind of came to the consensus that it doesn't necessarily need to be considered a Christmas movie. But I am glad it was on this list so I can rewatch it. And those are our final thoughts on just friends. So this cinema Sunday, which is actually my birthday, I'm gonna be doing a Tron marathon to get ready for the newest Tron movie, Tron Eris. So I'm gonna be watching the old Tron movie and the sequel. I told Mitch before we started recording, I all I already remember that I thought both of them were kind of boring. But I'm gonna re-watch them anyway just to see if I was wrong. And then next Tuesday on the Couch Critics, I'm gonna be watching Get Santa, which is a movie I've never heard of and never watched before. Night of Revive. I think it's I think it's British. I don't know. So we'll see. And we'll see who joins me on that episode of The Couch Critics. Where every movie gets its close-up.
SPEAKER_00:It's not just a movie, it's a way of life. We'll watch it together. They are not battle and close and don't miss the five.
