What to Expect When You Are Expecting

What to Expect When You Are Expecting (2012)

 Definitely not what I ever thought I would review, but with baby glubglub on the way, the missus was smitten with the ads and I will admit even i chuckled once or twice. So being the open minded chap that I am... we went to go see the movie. Which given the opening weekend numbers, means we were definitely in the minority.

 However, long story short, it was actually not that bad. "But Adam," you ask (whomever you are), "how did they create a narrative from a non-fiction book?" Who knows, who cares, the fact is they did and it wasn't as bad as one would imagine given the source material. Now that being said, is it going to appeal to teeny bopper girls, emo/hipster twenty-somethings, or the majority of youth out there? Not at all. This is a movie that has a very specific target audience. Namely expectant parents, or those who can find humour in pregnancy and childbirth but 'Knocked Up' this is not.

It is from the creators of Bridesmaids, and a lot of familiar faces show up in this film. The story itself, is broken up between a bunch of smaller stories. You have Elizabeth Banks and Ben Falcone as the couple who have been trying forever to get knocked up, you have Jennifer Lopez and Rodrigo Santoro who cannot concieve and trying to adopt, you have Cameron Diaz and Matthew Morrison who are a pseudo-celebrity couple with a surprise pregnancy, and Chase Crawford and Anna Kendrick who are a young couple who face their own surprises.

There are other peripheral characters (eg: the dad's club, the father and trophy wife, etc) and the stories intertwine periodically, but that's the gist of it. The better stories in my opinion are Elizabeth Banks and Ben Falcone's as well as the story with Chase Crawford and Anna Kendrick. The movie surprisingly acknowledges a lot of issues which explains the connection to the source material, and while overly sentimental at times, it does have a lot of humour. Unsurprisingly, is that all the stories end more or less how you expect them to, and everything gets neatly wrapped up like a wonderful new bundle of joy by the end. All in all, it isn't as terrible as the majority of reviews out there suggest it is, so long as you are the target audience.

The Good: A lot of the dad humour, but maybe I am biased. Alcide (for True Blood enthusiasts) is a particularly humerous addition. Elizabeth Banks and Ben Falcone were the real stars in my opinion as their story was the most complex. Anna Kendrick who many would recognize but few would actually know by name, is definitely going to be star in Hollywood methinks.

The Bad: The "easy" pregnancy and childbirth for Brooklyn Decker was a little ridiculous, Cameron Diaz and Mathew Morrision didn't really add anything to the overall story of the film either.

Final Thoughts: This is a very specific film, for a very specific audience. While humerous to appreciate as a one off, I don't think it is a classic in the making.

Add to the Vault? No. But it did make me appreciative that I am going to be a father soon, and look forward to all the trials and tribulations therein.