For someone like Chris Brander, played by Ryan Reynolds,  there's no worse place to wind up than in the "friend zone." That's where he was as an overweight high school senior, hopelessly in love with Jamie Palamino, a gorgeous girl who only saw Chris as her best friend and nothing more.

After his confession of love for Jamie (Amy Smart) backfired and humiliated him in front of the graduating class, Chris decided that was the last straw. He fled to L.A., lost all his extra weight, ditched the dorky retainer, and ten years later, Chris has transformed himself into a slick-talking, power-hungry music exec. But just as he thinks things are as perfect as they can get -- living the good life and courting an up-and-coming pop star (Anna Faris) for his label -- Chris ends up confronting his past around Christmastime when an airplane mishap forces him to spend the holidays in his old New Jersey hometown. Of course, he runs into Jamie once again, but instead of running away, Chris becomes intent on telling her how he feels once and for all...unless a fellow former nerd (Chris Klein) woos her away first.

Ah, readers, please forgive me if I've made Just Friends sound like a sweet, hopeful tale about trying to regain a love lost long ago. I forgot to mention the tazers, the brutal hockey fights, the flaming reindeer, and the fact that the film's screenwriter has insisted that "Tex" appear as part of his name in the credits. Sprinkle these elements throughout the above plot summary, and Just Friends goes from sounding like a refreshing take on relationships to yet another stale, pseudo-gross out comedy in no time flat.

It's not that Just Friends is a bad movie by any means, but it shows so much promise in some parts, mixing irreverent laughs with the story of a guy still trying to work up the courage to talk to the girl of his dreams a decade after they last met, it's a little disappointing to see the film as a whole come off so average and kinda dull. Perhaps it's this decision to combine two stylistically different films into one that becomes the project's undoing. It's not easy to pull off two different tones with a story that only has room for one.

There's a lot of conflict involved when the filmmakers want you to go "Awww..." one second and having Reynolds' character get beat up by an eight-year-old in the next scene, and it takes a certain delicate touch to make it all work seamlessly. The 40-Year-Old Virgin succeeded brilliantly in this respect, but Just Friends ends up creating a lot more awkward moments than I suspect the filmmakers would have liked. There are scenes where you want to laugh at the silliness on display, yet you almost feel like pitying the characters for doing so.

Although in the end the film's purpose is merely to provide some good-hearted, goofy laughs and kill an hour and a half, Just Friends left me wishing it had taken one direction, either the go-for-broke, R-rated raunchfest or play-it-safe, unexpectedly thoughtful romance. The film hits and misses, so instead of feeling entertained or disappointed, Just Friends left me with a feeling of indifference. I laughed at the successful jokes but sat stone-faced at the gags that fell flat and made me think I should've waited for the DVD.

Watching Reynolds in phony "fat guy" makeup as high school-era Chris is absolutely cringe-inducing. Not since Donal Logue in The Tao of Steve has a fat suit gone so awry. Luckily, these scenes are kept at a minimum, so the flick suffers little damage from that aspect, and Reynolds continues undeterred, keeping the viewer chuckling at his character's slow breakdown from self-made ladies man to lovestruck dork in Jamie's presence. Smart delivers a cute turn as Jamie, Klein does decently as Chris's rival for Jamie's affections, and Faris steals practically every scene she's in as an uber-horny, airheaded pop star.

Although I liked the people in Just Friends, I think they should have raised the stakes by bringing more energy to this half-funny flick with a predictable plotline. As it is, Just Friends is just average.

MY RATING: ** (out of ****)

(Released by New Line Cinema and rated "PG-13" for some sexual content including some dialogue.)