STARRING
Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel, Josh Lucas
DIRECTED BY
Greg Berlanti
SCREENPLAY
Ian Deitchman, Kristin Rusk Robinson
MPAA RATING
Rated PG-13
RUNNING TIME
113 Mins.
DISTRIBUTED BY
Warner Brothers
DVD EXTRAS
Deleted Scenes
|
|
"Life As We Know It" Review
|  |
|
I give up.
Be honest. You like Katherine Heigl. Just admit it. Heck, I like Katherine Heigl (possibly for different reasons, of course. I've had a complete crush on her ever since she went crushin' on the disabled guy in The Ringer).
It's okay to admit it. We all have guilty pleasure films. Heck, I'll even admit to a fondness for Adam Sandler's Little Nicky.
It's okay.
So, I give up on trying to convince you of the fits of mediocrity and paint-by-numbers storylines in virtually all of Heigl's rom-com cinematic offerings.
Instead, I'll simply offer this...If you've liked every other one of Heigl's films then you will undoubtedly appreciate Life As We Know It, yet another rom-com yet one where she has actual chemistry with co-star Josh Duhamel and we're treated to babies.
Everybody loves babies...well, except for friend and fellow critic Gina Wagner of Haunted Flower Reviews. Gina might save a baby from a burning building, but she'd likely save the pets first.
So, except for Gina and anyone else with baby-averse tendencies, the odds are pretty strong that you're going to enjoy Life As We Know It, a breezy if too long perfect date flick for which the trailer tells you everything you need to know and there's literally no doubt about how this is all going to end.
Holly (Heigl) and Eric (Duhamel) are godparents of Sophie (played by equally adorable triplets) who are called into action when their friends are killed in a car accident and one-year-old Sophie is suddenly parentless. The catch? They're asked to live together inside an unfathomably luxurious house and, even more unfathomably, they're asked to get along and raise Sophie together.
Playing well within their comfort zones, Heigl's Holly is a kind control freak while Duhamel's Eric is a much more laid back sports geek/romantic player. Heigl, of course, fancies someone else romantically in the form of an attractive pediatrician (Josh Lucas).
Do you have any doubt how this is going to end up?
Of course you don't.
Fortunately, both Heigl and Duhamel keep this film from ever dissolving into the usual sentimental crap and, rather surprisingly, there are even a few moments of slight edginess courtesy of the script by the male/female writing duo of Kristin Rusk Robinson and Ian Deitchman. The duo never stray far from romantic stereotypes and typical rom-com situations, but they do so with a bit more snap than we've seen from Heigl in awhile and even though the film runs a good 15 minutes too long the characters are pleasant enough that no one should mind much.
By no means a masterpiece or, for that matter, anywhere near the upper echelon of rom-coms in 2010, Life As We Know It is simply a romantic comedy likely to please those who've fallen hard for Heigl's previous work and who are seeking a laid back, feel good movie experience this weekend.
© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic
|
| |
|
