Â
Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel bring consistent sincerity to the tried and true formula underlying Greg Berlanti’s Life as We Know It. Berlanti is no stranger to bridging the comedy-drama gap; his television writing and producing credits include Everwood, Brothers and Sisters, and the latest superhero fare, No Ordinary Family. With Life as We Know It, Berlanti makes a decent effort at updating a popular story that was explored in the 1980s with Baby Boom and Three Men and a Baby and in the late 90s/early 00s with Big Daddy and Raising Helen. Like these previous films, Life as We Know It throws one of life’s biggest surprises–the challenges of raising a child–into the hands of an unwitting, semi-functioning adult who likely would never have had children of his or her own.
In at least three of the aforementioned films, a love interest is introduced mid-way through the story and becomes a sort of reward to the protagonist for all of his or her self-sacrifice. Life as We Know It instead introduces us to Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel) and Holly Berenson (Katherine Heigl) in the first act, B.C. (before child), and subsequently makes a…
Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel bring consistent sincerity to the tried and true formula underlying Greg Berlanti’s Life as We Know It. Berlanti is no stranger to bridging the comedy-drama gap; his television writing and producing credits include Everwood, Brothers and Sisters, and the latest superhero fare, No Ordinary Family. With Life as We Know It, Berlanti makes a decent effort at updating a popular story that was explored in the 1980s with Baby Boom and Three Men and a Baby and in the late 90s/early 00s with Big Daddy and Raising Helen. Like these previous films, Life as We Know It throws one of life’s biggest surprises–the challenges of raising a child–into the hands of an unwitting, semi-functioning adult who likely would never have had children of his or her own.
In at least three of the aforementioned films, a love interest is introduced mid-way through the story and becomes a sort of reward to the protagonist for all of his or her self-sacrifice. Life as We Know It instead introduces us to Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel) and Holly Berenson (Katherine Heigl) in the first act, B.C. (before child), and subsequently makes a case for their complete incompatibility. However, each are still thrown into each other’s lives as the respective best friends of the couple who set them up in the first place. A summary montage shows us how their dislike for one another continues as they take in all the joys of their friends’ relationship (first comes love, then the baby carriage). This makes for an entertaining but unoriginal dynamic when caterer Holly and sports TV director Messer are named baby Sophia’s guardians in the wake of their dear friends’ deaths.
While proving lack lustre in its attempts at humour, Life scores points for dealing with grief and the new parent struggle in authentic ways. For one, I was pleased to see that the grief over their friends’ deaths did not automatically push the protagonists into bed together–many films have told me that this is the number one way to deal with the loss of a loved one. Instead, the non-couple put aside differences and commit themselves to Sophia. We see a more mature relationship emerge out of necessity to the child first before the movie heads back into romantic territory.
The decision to cast frequent cover girl and Mad Men sensation Christina Hendricks as Sophia’s mother probably helps to invest the doomed couple with more presence than is often given to the parents-that-were. Overall, Hendricks' character Alison and her husband Peter (Hayes MacArthur) are developed well enough to leave both an impression of their own identity and what they meant to their friends.
The supporting cast is headed up by Melissa McCarthy of Gilmore Girls as one of the neighbourhood wives, and Rob Heubel, whose face you’ll either recognize or be seeing a lot of in the coming months. The Funny or Die contributor plays one half of the token gay couple in the neighbourhood, which is a trend I hope proves more progressive than transgressive. One failing in the film is Josh Lucas’ Dr. Sam, vertex C on an underdeveloped love triangle. While the actor plays his role adequately, the character itself is a throwaway part that offers little else but a foil to Messer. He’s the classic perfect guy (conveniently, a pediatrician) that anyone can predict will be passed up for the flawed everyman.
Overall Score: 6.95 – Okay. (6s are just okay. These movies usually have many flaws, didn’t try to do anything special, or were poorly executed. Some will still love 6s, but most prefer to just rent them. Watch more trailers and read more reviews before you decide.)
Raising a baby forces Heigl and Duhamel to grow up before they can have a grown up relationship. I deem this Responsible Romance.
