Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Review: Friends with Kids

Friends with Kids is a textbook example of the good ole bait and switch.  Trailers, one-sheets, and other marketing materials feed the consumer with a steady diet of Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, John Hamm, and Chris O’Dowd.  The goal clearly is to create an association between this film and the quartet’s last project together - Bridesmaids.  In doing so your expectations align to that film experience – the laugh out loud humor, the witty repartee, and just the right amount of sentimentality. However, in reality you are getting something completely different with this movie.  Instead of the aforementioned four, you are getting Adam Scott and Jennifer Westfeldt weaving their way towards parenthood in a overly contrived plot that tries to take aim at the conventions of parenthood and relationships.  Instead of humor, you get soapbox preaching. In lieu of charm, you get drab.

The film provides us two protagonists who believe the traditional concepts and conventions of parenthood are silly and frivolous after watching the mundane lives of their friends and so they decide to platonically have a baby together.  Even as you are reading that last sentence I would venture a guess that you have already figured out how this movie will end for our two protagonists.  The problem then  is that before we - the viewers - can get to that incredibly telegraphed conclusion, you must first endure the plot.

If the movie had only one message to disseminate and if it were actually a useful one, then there might have been value in the almost two hours I spent watching it.  But sadly the plot takes off in so many directions and tries to address so many different relationship issues that it all gets lost in a morass of social angst.  What truly exasperates things is that by the third act, you realize that there are no real answers to be had, no anecdote that makes all the onscreen drama make sense.  Like a dog, the plot seems to be chasing its own tail in one big circle. 

The cast in this movie does very little to acquit itself or the film.  Jennifer Westfedlt and Adam Scott star in this movie but in all honesty are not suitable-for-primetime-players.  Their best work clearly is as bit parts.  That the duo is supported by a group of very successful actors makes their lack of star panache more glaring.  As for the aforementioned  supporting cast, the four Bridesmaids alums are sadly underutilized and appear void of the dynamic qualities that define each of their respective talents.  It’s not so much that they are not trying but more that their respective characters are one-dimensional.  Everything they do feels so bland and muted.

I am going to be honest and disclose that this movie put me to sleep for about 10 minutes between the first and second acts.  That alone makes this movie no better than a C- though even that grade may be a bit generous.  I don't think the movie is an abomination or anything to that extent but it is inconsequential and sterile with no one good redeeming quality. I would be hard pressed to recommend this film even if it were on network TV, because it is just not entertaining.  If these kinds of movies really are your cup of tea, then I would recommend you keep an eye out for This is 40 starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann.  Hopefully director Judd Apatow can stem the tide of his Sandler-like descent into mediocrity.

Standout Performance: Megan Fox. She may not be able to act, but she is carving out a little bit of a niche channeling her real-life persona into some smaller roles.


Post a Comment