A romantic comedy about a pair of friends left with a baby girl to care for after her parents die in a car accident.
Holly Berenson (Katherine Heigl) is an up-and-coming caterer and Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel) is a promising network sports director. After a disastrous first date, the only thing they have in common is their dislike for each other and their love for their goddaughter, Sophie. When they suddenly become all Sophie has in the world, however, Holly and Messer are forced to put their differences aside.
Hollywood's current rom-com golden girl Katherine Heigl (Killers, 27 Dresses) continues her trawl through predictable and leaden tales with this so-so story about unexpected parenthood. She plays one of the most unconvincing catering workers ever (we only see her dice vegetables) and her insistence on wanting her cake and eating it too (career, toddler, two lovers) does make her a slightly less than endearing heroine.
Up against her in this It's Complicated (obligatory pot scene ahoy) meets No Reservations by way of Jerry Maguire is Tad Hamilton himself, Josh Duhamel, but his offbeat hunkiness is undermined by an uncanny resemblance to Johnny Knoxville (Heigl's co-star in The Ringer). He's also upstaged by Matthew McConaughey-stand-in, Josh Lucas, whose character is underwritten and rather unfairly treated.
The film's biggest issue, though, is its rapid changes in tone – from There's Something About Mary style gross-out gags to saccharine schmaltz in less than a minute. Crazy plot contrivances also don't help, while newish parents will be concerned about how arrested the one-year-old 'baby's' development appears to be. As Duhamel's character suggests, this could make for a "compelling psych experiment", but as entertainment it's overlong and underdone.
By James Croot, Flicks.co.nz
Too predictable. Bad acting both leads. And how did it take several days for them to get around to changing the kids nappy?
This was a good movie actually, I would recommend it for a chillout session on a Sunday. A couple of laughs to stave off the onslaught of the coming week.
Movie is good even though you know what if going to happen the whole way through and how it will end. would recommend as a good movie to just chill out with the girl and not have to think about anything and enjoy the eye candy.
So anyway, what happens in Life As We Know It? You'll never guess in a million years. Never.
Although wholly predictable in its every beat and featuring bland, unremarkable WASPs as romantic leads, "Life" is not without its charms.
What you may not expect is quite how satisfying much of the film is, with Duhamel turning out to be a very good sparring partner for Heigl.
Possibly because Heigl is one of the producers, the most beautiful woman in the film -- the stunning Christina Hendricks of "Mad Men" -- dies in an off-screen car crash barely before the opening credits are over.
It's enough to say that the bland romantic comedy Life as We Know It, in which there is not a single deviation from formula, is well made for its corporate type.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 21st Oct 2010.
Release date: October 21st 2010.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
