i literally only saw this as a way to kill two hours. I get all dressed up in my nice job interview suit and get to where i have to be only to be told to come back in about three hours. Three hours--but how am i gonna kill that time---grumble grumble grumble--fine so here's the local theater--and the only show time for anything that fits is this movie...and i'm kinda gritting my teeth at the lady in the ticket booth like ugh maybe i should just go to starbucks or something--but i don't wanna spend two hours sitting there pretending to be staring at my phone but really just thinking about how badly i need a job at this point--so i reluctantly go back inside and say fine--one please--and lo and behold---what to expect when you're expecting...and it wasn't a bad way to kill two hours! (i know high praise!) Did i rate this movie better then i would of because it was simply a far far far less painful movie then i assumed it would be? possibly. was i also engaged in the multiple story lines and feel that the actors involved did a good job conveying the problems and conflicted feelings they're supposed to be feeling in a way that felt true and somewhat lifelike while having these various problems? i was and surprisingly yes for the most part. The weak link here i think has got to be the whole Cameron Diaz plot line part---i understood why they included it--she's kind of the glue for everyone else in the movie, she's the host of a reality show that the other characters all either follow or are forced to follow--- but i never thought there was any pay off to her storyline (nor was there really much of a reason to keep cutting back to her except for her to fret and argue with her hubby) and her chemistry with the teacher from Glee was rather non-existent...but that's OK--when you have five or six plot lines they can't all be grade A, and that's also OK when you consider that the plot lines involving Elizabeth Banks, and her husband Ben Falcone are both solid. (i spent the entire movie saying to myself--who IS this guy??? air-marshal from Bridesmaids--but i swear i'd seen him in other things too---he's quite good as the schlubby everyman and should have a fairly nice career if the gods are good... he's embittered about his super competitive dad played by Dennis quiad showing him up at everything including having a baby apparently.,,and while the plot line is largely played for laughs--Falcone does an excellent job at showing you the underlying tension and stress that that relationship is causing him) The plot line involving Anna Kendrick and Chance Crawford ends up being surprisingly engaging even if it kind of peters out in the last half hour or so-- the plot line involving the group of dads (who also never really function as anything other then sight gags and a springboard for various one liners here and there--lord they're almost kind of like a Greek chorus of fatherhood fears and vices--with Chris Rock as the leader of course.) almost made up for the fact that the plot line they're supposed to be in is also a bit on the weak side--altho i did like how the group dynamics and relationship to one another kind of almost form their own movie really. and for what its worth i thought Jennifer Lopez and the actor who played her husband did an adequate job conveying their frustrations at having difficulties conceiving, anxiety about adopting, and eventually overcoming any fears they might have at being parents. (Adequate can be a good thing sometimes--neither one thankfully overdoes it on the dramatics or suddenly lapses into hysterics--they both keep it lifelike and nicely low key enough in giving voice to their various apprehensions) I'm not about to say this is the greatest movie ever made about becoming a parent---some of the jokes are too spacey and not exactly the stuff of life (Elizabeth Banks owns a bookstore and wrote a book called The Breast of Life--haha???--the woman who works with her who was also in bridesmaids is a bit of a dim bulb and not quite someone you'd meet in real life--but she did have a great one liner about wanting to take a 15 minute facebook break.) but the emotions and misgivings the characters all feel about becoming a parent and worrying frantically about messing it all up felt real and honest enough that i think its fairly easy to overlook some of the not so great stuff in the movie---and the performances were all real and honest enough that it was easy to look past some of the more cartoonish elements that sometimes popped up here and there throughout---heck i even thought the resolution between Ben Falcone and his lifelong anger at his dad Dennis Quaid was really really sweet even if that plot line had mostly been played for cartoonish laughs, the resolution felt heartfelt enough. What i'm trying to say is this movie is somehow both better then you think it would be and yet somehow also exactly what you think it is. does that make any sense? Kind of.