Dads provide a pregnant pause
By Christy Lemire |
May 18, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IF only "What to Expect When You're Expecting" had focused on the dads' group, and didn't just drop in on them a handful of times, we might have been on to something here.
Chris Rock, Thomas Lennon and Rob Huebel are among the dudes who meet regularly to push their kids in tricked-out strollers and talk guy stuff in a confidential setting away from the wives. Their no-nonsense banter and their unabashed worship of the buff, shirtless jogger who frequents their Atlanta park liven up what is a rather predictable and cliched depiction of pregnancy.
A good-looking cast of popular actors can only do so much with material that's superficial and sitcommy. Director Kirk Jones' film is "inspired by" the 1985 Heidi Murkoff advice book of the same name. But the script from Shauna Cross and Heather Hach merely uses a familiar non-fiction title as a leaping-off point to explore various intertwined relationships, ostensibly for hilarious comic effect.
There are some laughs here and there and a few recognizable moments of honesty. Elizabeth Banks' character Wendy begins to touch on something relatable; an author and owner of a breast feeding boutique, she finds her militant stances hard to maintain once she becomes pregnant herself. As she's about to give a big speech, she realizes all the platitudes written on her note cards are false; instead, she opens her mouth and dares to share her third-trimester misery with a gawking crowd.
More often, we get the kind of contrived, shrieky wackiness that breaks out when all the pregnant women whose stories we've been following just happen to give birth at the same hospital on the same night.
They include Cameron Diaz as Jules, a fitness expert and the host of a reality who didn't expect to be expecting with Evan (Matthew Morrison), her partner on a "Dancing With the Stars"-style reality show.
Jennifer Lopez plays Holly, a photographer who's been trying for years to conceive with her husband, Alex (Rodrigo Santoro), with no luck.
Then there's the twentysomething Rosie (Anna Kendrick) and Marco (Chace Crawford), competing food truck entrepreneurs and former high school classmates.
Jones only finds real energy when he comes back to the dads' group. Within seconds of watching Rock riff on what it's really like to be a parent, you get a glimpse of how good this movie might have been. Instead, keep your expectations in check.
Chris Rock, Thomas Lennon and Rob Huebel are among the dudes who meet regularly to push their kids in tricked-out strollers and talk guy stuff in a confidential setting away from the wives. Their no-nonsense banter and their unabashed worship of the buff, shirtless jogger who frequents their Atlanta park liven up what is a rather predictable and cliched depiction of pregnancy.
A good-looking cast of popular actors can only do so much with material that's superficial and sitcommy. Director Kirk Jones' film is "inspired by" the 1985 Heidi Murkoff advice book of the same name. But the script from Shauna Cross and Heather Hach merely uses a familiar non-fiction title as a leaping-off point to explore various intertwined relationships, ostensibly for hilarious comic effect.
There are some laughs here and there and a few recognizable moments of honesty. Elizabeth Banks' character Wendy begins to touch on something relatable; an author and owner of a breast feeding boutique, she finds her militant stances hard to maintain once she becomes pregnant herself. As she's about to give a big speech, she realizes all the platitudes written on her note cards are false; instead, she opens her mouth and dares to share her third-trimester misery with a gawking crowd.
More often, we get the kind of contrived, shrieky wackiness that breaks out when all the pregnant women whose stories we've been following just happen to give birth at the same hospital on the same night.
They include Cameron Diaz as Jules, a fitness expert and the host of a reality who didn't expect to be expecting with Evan (Matthew Morrison), her partner on a "Dancing With the Stars"-style reality show.
Jennifer Lopez plays Holly, a photographer who's been trying for years to conceive with her husband, Alex (Rodrigo Santoro), with no luck.
Then there's the twentysomething Rosie (Anna Kendrick) and Marco (Chace Crawford), competing food truck entrepreneurs and former high school classmates.
Jones only finds real energy when he comes back to the dads' group. Within seconds of watching Rock riff on what it's really like to be a parent, you get a glimpse of how good this movie might have been. Instead, keep your expectations in check.
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