Life As We Know It is one of those movies that didn’t interest me when I saw the previews for the first time or encouraged me to overcome those reservations with a 28% positive rating on www.rottentomatoes.com. I would never have seen it had it not been on HBO one day. So I recorded it and gave it 15 minutes to interest me. I was so glad I did it. Not only did it grab my attention with a hilarious first scene between the two lead stars, but it also won me over with its tender story, direction, and actors who were determined to get it right. And, low and behold, the movie came out in 2010. Even though this movie doesn’t come close to cracking the top ten for that year, it further supports my argument that 2010 is the best year for movie releases in my lifetime.
I liked the story a lot. And while I’ll be the first to say that the story was utterly unbelievable, I still liked it. It was original. It was a romantic dramedy that formed in a completely different way than all other movies in this genre. The movie starts with Messer (Josh Duhamel – Transformers, Turistas) and Holly (Katherine Heigl – Knocked Up, The Ringer) meeting for the first time after being set up on a blind date by mutual friends. The pair knock heads from the start, and the date ends before they even pull away from the curb. What angers them equally is not that the date went so poorly but that their mutual friends, Peter and Allison, thought they would be a good match for each other.
Fast forward a few months, maybe a year, and Peter and Allison have a baby girl named Sophie. Messer and Holly are vital parts of Peter, Allison, and Sophie’s life, so the five of them are frequently together even though Messer and Holly cannot stand each other. They come to terms with the fact that they will never see eye to eye, but if they don’t learn to get along, each has the potential to be shut out of Sophie’s life. And they both come to like Sophie very, very much. When Peter and Allison are in a life-ending automobile accident, Messer and Holly discover that they were named as the two people Peter and Allison wanted to raise Sophie if such a situation were to occur.
Messer and Holly move into Peter and Allison’s house and raise Sophie as best they know how. With no prior experience, they do a terrible job. But they both care about the baby and rearrange their lives to give her the proper care. They learn to deal with the nuisances about one another that used to drive them crazy. They have a unified vision. They want to raise the baby properly. They continue to live their own lives as best they can. Their relationship is that of roommates that turns into a solid friendship that may or may not become something more.
You’ll have a smile on your face as you watch this movie. You won’t fall on the ground laughing, but I don’t think you’ll ever be bored. There is enough mild drama and real-life situations regarding the lead characters that keep it fresh. Parts of it are corny (like the bodily fluids constantly escaping from Sophie and hitting Holly and Messer in various parts of their body), but most of it is well constructed. The side characters are fantastic, most notably the hilarious performance by Sarah Burns as the Child of Protective Services social worker responsible for ensuring Sophie lived in the best environment possible. Also very good was hit-or-miss actor Josh Lucas (Glory Road, Poseidon) as Sophie’s doctor and potential love interest for Holly.
This is not a movie that I would ever rush to the theater to see, and I one that happened to see at all because I lucked into it on HBO. If you are looking for something lighthearted and fun, ignore what the critics say and give it a chance.
Plot 7/10
Character Development 7.5/10
Character Chemistry 8.5/10
Acting 7.5/10
Screenplay 7/10
Directing 8/10
Cinematography 7/10
Sound 7/10
Hook and Reel 9/10
Universal Relevance 7/10
74.5%
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