Love Interest Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Jamie Palamino

Jamie Palamino is the love interest of Chris Brander from Just Friends.

Plot[]

In 1995, Chris Brander (Ryan Reynolds) is an obese, curly-haired high school student who attends the graduation party of his best friend, Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart) whom he secretly has a huge romantic crush on. He plans to confess his feelings by writing them in Jamie's yearbook. When Chris tries to return Jamie's yearbook, it is taken by her despicable ex-boyfriend, Tim (Ty Olsson). Chris is publicly humiliated when Tim reads his (Chris) confession aloud to the party but is further demoralized when Jamie doesn't reciprocate his intense and close romantic feelings and affections.

After they share a kiss, Tim and the class burst out and humiliate Chris again. Embarrassed, Chris leaves on his bicycle tearfully and vows to leave town and never return in order to achieve greater success than his classmates.

She wasn't seen until ten years later when Chris takes the singer to his mother's house for a place to spend the night and re-engages with his teenage past, including his unresolved feelings for Jamie. At the local bar, Chris encounters some old classmates, including Tim, who is now balding, fat and a heavy drinker. Jamie also appears, working as a bartender to support herself through graduate school.

Chris plans to impress and seduce Jamie. However, a number of unexpected problems, including a growing realization that Jamie's platonic friendship is important to him, hamper Chris' plan. Chris bonds with Jamie on several occasions and during a friendly ice skating "day date", Chris is taken away in an ambulance after being injured in a game of hockey. Jamie is reunited with Dusty Dinkleman (Chris Klein), a paramedic and former high school nerd who was also romantically in love with her.

Prior to his romantic date, Chris had left his younger brother, Mike to spend time with Samantha. Samantha eventually pushes Mike against the bathroom wall to find out Chris' location and, following initial resistance, Samantha, knowing Mike's strong feelings towards her, passionately kisses him on the lips, resulting in the brother's disclosure (thinking that Chris and Jamie have made love already, Mike uses the term "lover").

Samantha consequently becomes jealous towards Jamie, believing that the old classmates are in a relationship, and in an angry rage, Samantha destroys Jamie's family's Christmas decorations. Embarrassed by Samantha's actions, Chris returns home but is visited by Jamie there. Jamie reveals that she is not mad at Chris and plans to spend the night with him; but, due to Chris' continuing lack of assertion, the two end up falling asleep and no romance ensues.

The day after Samantha's vandalism, Jamie speaks with Darla (Amy Matysio), who is now married to Clark (Fred Ewanuick), about the night before and her fear that Chris lack of affection might mean that he doesn't like her. Jamie admits that whilst the two are "just friends", she tried to "put herself out there" to Chris, to show Chris that she is interested in a relationship.

Meanwhile, Chris attends Clark's workplace, a dental surgery, to talk to Clark, revealing to him that "the timing wasn't right" and that their shared history hinders his willingness to have sex with her. Chris explains that he feels like he is in high school again.

Later, Chris and Clark catch Dusty singing to a sexy nurse and then kissing her. Dusty then reveals to Chris and Clark that he only plans to have sex with Jamie, as he wants to humiliate her in the same way that he felt she used to humiliate him. Chris tries to warn Jamie about Dusty during a children's Christmas pageant, but instead ends up attacking Dusty and ruining the play. Jamie refuses to listen when Chris tries to tell her about the nurse, leaving Chris angry and disappointed with both Jamie and her family. Chris consequently gets drunk and enters the bar where Jamie works, proceeding to blame her for keeping him in the "friend zone"; he also exclaims that Jamie will never amount to anything romantic or meaningful. Jamie punches Chris and he is tossed out of the bar at her request.

Upon returning to LA, Chris realizes that Jamie is his one official and true love interest and returns to New Jersey hoping to finally be with her. Chris declares his genuinely intense romantic love for Jamie at her house and the two share a romantic kiss outside in view of the neighborhood kids.

Advertisement