Sometimes a spoiler warning is just a precaution: on this occasion I shall be revealing plot developments ie. it is a real spoiler warning.
There is a fairly standard template for the romantic comedy: we are introduced to a couple who appear to be chalk and cheese although we have an inkling that they are ideally suited to each other: they are thrown together by virtue of a maguffin: in the course of resolving the maguffin they discover love for each other: a last minute plot wrinkle drives them apart: various manoeuverings bring them back together, albeit not without an element of panic.
Life As We Know It fits this template perfectly. Holly (Katherine Heigl) is an ambitious, focused patisserie owner who dislikes Messer (Josh Duhamel), a hedonistic, laid back TV sports assistant director. They are godparents to Sophie, the baby daughter of their friends Allison and Peter. The maguffin is that when Allison and Peter are killed in a car accident, they find themselves guardians of Sophie and romance duly ensues. Messer is offered a dream job in another city and this drives them apart, but they get back together in the end.
The thing is, they shouldn't have got back together. Messer accepting the job was absolutely right for him, and Holly taking up with nice, handsome paediatrician Sam (Josh Lucas), who she had fancied since before the maguffin (and vice versa) was exactly right for her. I would have respected this film more if it had gone with something realistic and credible instead of the trite formula.
Katherine Heigl can play parts like this in her sleep, and it comes as no surprise to find her doing so here (and perhaps it is plot relevant too!). She is as gorgeous as ever, but completely forgets to be sexy. I am familiar with Josh Duhamel's name, but the only time I have seen his face is on the front of Johnny Knoxville's head - the resemblance is so strong that I was expecting something to whack him in the testicles at any moment. And the plot demanded that they have no chemistry for at least the first half of the movie, and they didn't. Then the plot demanded that they should have chemistry, but they still didn't.
I must say that the short section dealing with the deaths of Allison and Peter was dealt with well. But most of the laughs were obvious stuff, smelly diapers and the like.
There is a fairly standard template for the romantic comedy: we are introduced to a couple who appear to be chalk and cheese although we have an inkling that they are ideally suited to each other: they are thrown together by virtue of a maguffin: in the course of resolving the maguffin they discover love for each other: a last minute plot wrinkle drives them apart: various manoeuverings bring them back together, albeit not without an element of panic.
Life As We Know It fits this template perfectly. Holly (Katherine Heigl) is an ambitious, focused patisserie owner who dislikes Messer (Josh Duhamel), a hedonistic, laid back TV sports assistant director. They are godparents to Sophie, the baby daughter of their friends Allison and Peter. The maguffin is that when Allison and Peter are killed in a car accident, they find themselves guardians of Sophie and romance duly ensues. Messer is offered a dream job in another city and this drives them apart, but they get back together in the end.
The thing is, they shouldn't have got back together. Messer accepting the job was absolutely right for him, and Holly taking up with nice, handsome paediatrician Sam (Josh Lucas), who she had fancied since before the maguffin (and vice versa) was exactly right for her. I would have respected this film more if it had gone with something realistic and credible instead of the trite formula.
Katherine Heigl can play parts like this in her sleep, and it comes as no surprise to find her doing so here (and perhaps it is plot relevant too!). She is as gorgeous as ever, but completely forgets to be sexy. I am familiar with Josh Duhamel's name, but the only time I have seen his face is on the front of Johnny Knoxville's head - the resemblance is so strong that I was expecting something to whack him in the testicles at any moment. And the plot demanded that they have no chemistry for at least the first half of the movie, and they didn't. Then the plot demanded that they should have chemistry, but they still didn't.
I must say that the short section dealing with the deaths of Allison and Peter was dealt with well. But most of the laughs were obvious stuff, smelly diapers and the like.