Life as We Know It Review: You Know You Love It

This movie is pretty much exactly what you expect from the trailer/premise. With that said, it was delightful and one of the best romcoms I have seen in quite some time.

I was lucky enough to catch an advanced sneak preview of Life as We Know It last week, and it made for a great treat at the end of particularly stressful workday. The story follows the trailer to a t. The gist is a friends-of-friends tale that starts in mutual hatred and ends in love. Holly (Katherine Heigl) and Eric, aka Messer (Josh Duhamel), are set up on a date by their friends Alison and Peter (Christina Hendricks and Hayes MacArthur), the date is terrible. Holly and Messer can’t stand one another, but they stay in touch because of their respective BFFs. Flash forward to Alison and Peter’s marital bliss with a little bundle of joy to which Holly and Messer are the godparents. Flash slightly forward to a peek into Holly and Messer’s daily lives, only to be interrupted by tragedy and surprising joint guardianship of said bundle of joy, Sophie.

What follows is the predicable but equally entertaining depiction of two clueless, attractive people who have new-found responsibilities as parents to an ADORABLE baby (or rather, three real life babies, damn child labor laws). Following right along with the trailer, there are moments of hilarity and anguish with diapers and first steps, with some liquid and inhaled comfort along the way. A romance blossoms when opposites attract in an unconventional family setting, and when challenges arise, tears are shed and words are said that lead up to the perfectly expected emotional payoff in the end.

While nothing is groundbreaking about this movie, it is wholly enjoyable. Like I said before, the baby in this movie is perfect. She/they are so insanely cute and have the best comedic timing. I don’t know what they used to train those babies, but it worked. Also, the way Messer carries the baby around had my biological clock chiming. Aside from my face hurting after smiling so much from the baby, Holly and Messer have great chemistry and had me laughing out loud in their use of booze and soft core drugs. Also, surprise comedic relief from the social worker whose political incorrectness/psycho antics were very much appreciated, and the neighbors made me want to move to Atlanta.

The only things that irked me in this movie were Sam (Josh Lucas) and gender roles, both of which maybe unfounded, but I was annoyed none the less. Lets start with Sam. I guess there needed to be some kind of romantic tension/competition, but I wasn’t feeling this. Unnecessary and it made Holly look super desperate. Maybe she was supposed to be, but single doctor in love with neurotic woman who, bonus, has a baby? Too much. Where’s the flaw? Not endearing enough to be a character for me. Also, I don’t know if I was wearing my feminist hat during this movie, but gender roles were a little too omnipresent for me once little Sophie was handed over to the control-freak-want-to-settle-down Holly and always-have-a-beer-or-condom-in-my-hand Messer. Even though this is a romantic comedy and there is an expected amount of cliches, I was peeved that OF COURSE the woman loves the life playing house but needs time to fall in love with the man, and the man isn’t into the domestic gig but is finally peeling back the layers of his unrequited love for the girl. Blah.

Other than those possibly irrational biases, I was completely satisfied with my romcom experience in Life as We Know It. I saw the movie with my girlfriends, almost cried a few times, laughed out loud a few times, and was giddy with the cuteness on screen. All in all it was chick flick life as we know it, as expected, but sometimes you just need that comfort.

Photos by Peter Iovino – © 2010 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc