Life as We know it

There is no good reason for me wanting to see this movie, but I want to. There was something in the trailer that made me think, maybe, just maybe, this would not be exactly what you think it is going to be. There is something about a movie that has a character pushing a baby down that makes you wonder what else might be in there. I am not opposed to Katherine Heigl or her movies, even if they all look the same and the director, Greg Berlanti, has done some great stuff on television. My biggest concern was that this movie would bring out my desire to be a father. I call it the Definitely, Maybe syndrome. I see a movie where the father child relationship is totally adorable and it fills me with the desire to be a father. it makes me fall in love with the movie for no good reason and leaves me feeling all sentimental and gushy. Who wants that??

Holly(Heigl) and Messer(Josh Duhamel)went on one blind date 5 years ago and it was a disaster. They were so incompatible that they did not even make it to dinner. Holly hoped they would never see each other again, but seeing as they were set up by a couple who happened to be the best friend of both Holly and Messer, that was never going to happen. Holly was the maid of honor and Messer was the best man at this couple's wedding and, yes they turn out to be the God Parents of this couple's baby girl, Sophie. After a car accident claims Sophie's parents, Holly and Messer are left Sophie to raise as their kid. Holly, of course, wants a family at some point, but never imagined it this way and Messer is stuck in frat boy mode, hence going by Messer. The arrangement goes Holly and Messer live in this couple's house and raise Sophie together, but since they hate each other, they maintain their single life, by taking days off and alternating weekends off. This arrangement will only be full time if they can pull it off and get a pass from Child Protective Services which will stop by at, of course, the most inopportune times for check ups.

I am not sure exactly how many of her movies begin with her getting ready for a date, but Katherine Heigl must choose movies based on whether or not the movie begins with her dressing for, or getting ready to go on a first date. Also, she excels in playing women who succeed in business, but are uptight, clumsy and in desperate need of a night of great sex. Duhamel is going to be constantly playing guys who were awesome in college and never want to grow up. So, it makes to put these two actors in this movie where they can play perfectly within their comfort zone and even without the trailer or the poster, or having nay knowledge of what the movie was about, you knew from the first frame these two would eventually sleep together. There movies where everything goes exactly the way you expect/want and it feels comforting. That is the reason romantic comedies are so popular, they deliver on everything you hope it will and you will be left feeling warm and fuzzy in the end. In some ways Life as We know it is exactly that movie, except, I was hoping it would not be. I was hoping the baby pushing scene would be indicative of the whole tone of this movie, not just a funny moment in a muddled mess of cliches.

There are some nice moments in the movie to be sure. I enjoyed a lot of the baby stuff, even if it is not entirely original and I thought that Heigl and Dumahel were great with the baby stuff and their chemistry towards each other was pretty good. Their first kiss is pretty hot for a PG-13 movie and even though it led to exactly what I knew it would, I thought they kept the tension at a reasonable level for a while. There is some great comedy, but it all comes within the first hour or so of the movie as this ridiculous non-couple goes through trying to figure out how to raise a baby. The movie peppers scenes with wacky neighbors, like the gay couple who pretends to like sports, the liar neighbor with the hot wife, the gossipy lady with a ton of kids, those generic types of movie neighbors.

Life as We Know it, I think, does what it set out to do, I just wish it had set out to be a bit more ambitious. I feel like at some point the script had more bite to it. I think somewhere in that film is a stronger, more subversive movie that just got its teeth knocked out by a studio, or a producer or something. I could be wrong, but it feels like something got lost in this movie. There are these great, sort of biting moments that made me perk up, but they were so short lived that the script felt like a cut and paste job from a few different writers. I cannot really back this opinion with too much evidence, it is just a feeling I have from watching so many movies. Somewhere in the world is a script with this title that is better than the one that ended up on the screen.

Final Grade: C-