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Friday, October 8, 2010
MOVIE REVIEW
Life As We Know It
After Death, A Charmed Life Of Angst And Opportunity
Alexis Claggett as Sophie and Josh Duhamel as Eric in "Life As We Know It".
Warner Brothers
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Friday, October
8, 2010
"Life As We Know It", directed by Greg Berlanti, is a weighty title for a film
that feels like a sugary donut surrounding a whole lot of not much.
Starring Katharine Heigl and Josh Duhamel, the film bills itself as another
airy, fluffy romantic comedy as the two lead actors play Holly and Eric,
disdainful opposites set up on a date by friends in common who are married with
a baby.
When the baby becomes an orphan the film grows dour yet has a tough time getting
comfortable with its new mood. In tragedy's wake, the quarreling twosome
has the unexpected responsibility of parenting the child. Holly owns a
bakery. Eric is a sports television remote camera director. That
both have jobs in this troubled economy is about all they have in common.
It's rough to watch a film with two adversaries bickering about how much they
despise each other and the "perils" of baby rearing when real single parents
with much less do a whole lot more. Mr. Berlanti's film is entertainment,
yes, but it is also a trivial pursuit.
The biggest problem with "Life As We Know It" is that it has little wiggle room
in which to operate. We know that Holly and Eric will have to call a truce
to take care of their departed friends' child. And given everything
audiences know about romantic comedies, enough vigor and engagement is needed to
maintain levity without forcing situations for a laugh. Granted, comedy is
always difficult, but this film makes real comedy darn near impossible.
In short, Mr. Berlanti's film lacks sufficient energy because it is trapped by
the pall of its despair. The screenplay by first-time feature writers Ian
Deitchman and Kristin Rusk Robinson attempts to cure this by finding diversions
from the heavier issues at hand. The writers insert the standard
scatological stunts for which babies are seemingly tailor-made, and the main
characters are supplemented by the somewhat awkward presence of a flirtatious
doctor played by Josh Lucas.
If nothing else Ms. Heigl has the perkiness and smarts she normally brings, but
sadly her talents get squandered and buried in poor films ("The
Ugly Truth", "Killers"), this one included.
If she were offered the kind of opportunities Hilary Swank or Julia Roberts
enjoy, audiences would get to see what Ms. Heigl is made of. Mr. Duhamel
("When In Rome", "Transformers") utilizes physical comedy but it takes him and
his character only so far. All in all, there are a scarcity of laughs not
only because "Life As We Know It" feels pretentious and bloated, but because it
just isn't funny.
Long before its conclusion, audiences will know that they have seen "Life As We
Know It" many times before.
With: Hayes MacArthur, Christina Hendricks, Sarah Burns, Jessica St. Clair,
DeRay Davis, Melissa McCarthy.
"Life As We Know It"
is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture
Association Of America for sexual material, language and some drug content. The film's running time
is one hour and 52 minutes.
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