Life as We Know It

*I was planning to review The Kids Are All Right as part of my Oscar Watch...  I was excited about it.  Pretty much every review is positive and Annette Benning is nominated for Best Actress for her role.  So I convinced my roommate to watch it with me... Wow.  We watched the first 15 to 20 minutes before I turned it off.  By that time we had witnessed 3 sex scenes and 2 scenes of nudity.  I can deal with minimal nudity / sex scenes... I'm not thrilled when they are included in films, but I can deal... but this was ridiculous.  I didn't have a desire to see anymore, and my roommate was already looking at me like I was crazy for picking it... so instead we watched Life as We Know It On Demand, and were much happier with that choice.

"Just because you accept help from someone, doesn't mean you have failed. It just means you're not in it alone."

Holly Berenson (Heigl) and Eric Messer (Duhamel) hate each other.  When their best friends, Peter (MacArthur) and Alison (Hendricks) Novak, set them up on a blind date it is a disaster.  Holly owns a popular bakery and is a workaholic.  Messer works for the Atlanta Hawks as a technical director, and is a perpetual playboy.  Years later, Holly and Messer are the godparents of Peter and Alison's daughter Sophie (the Clagett sisters).

Shortly after Sophie's first birthday, Peter and Alison are killed in a car accident... and Holly and Messer are named as Sophie's legal guardians.  Holly and Messer move into the Novak's home and try to cope with the loss of their friends and their new challenge.  They are embraced by the couples in the neighborhood, who enjoy Holly's cooking and are in awe of Messer... and Holly gets closer to their pediatrician Sam (Lucas).  Can they survive parenthood?


From the beginning you know what is going to happen... but there is nothing wrong with that.  It is a sweet story filled with beautiful people.  The little girls who play Sophie are adorable.  Katharine Heigl and Josh Duhamel have great chemistry and are fun to watch on screen.  I wish the fantastic Christina Hendricks (from TV's "Mad Men") was in more of the film... I have loved her since her memorable part in Joss Whedon's TV show "Firefly."  The supporting cast, as the neighbors, are also fun... such as "Mad TV" alum Will Sasso and "Gilmore Girls" Melissa McCarthy.

Yes, you know what will happen... but it's fun getting there, and you get to stare at Josh Duhamel and Josh Lucas along the way.  Is there a downside?

Life as We Know It (2010) 114 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for sexual material, language and some drug content.
Director: Greg Berlanti
Starring: Katherine Heigl as Holly Berenson
Josh Duhamel as Eric Messer
Josh Lucas as Sam
Hayes MacArthur as Peter Novak
Christina Hendricks as Alison Novak
Alexis, Brynn & Brooke Clagett as Sophie