Life As We Know It (2010)
Directed by Greg Berlanti
Written by Ian Deitchman
Starring Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel, Josh Lucas
Release Date October 8th, 2010
Published October 9th, 2010
You always have a choice in life but sometimes circumstance intervenes to complicate those choices. For Holly (Katherine Heigl) and Messer (Josh Duhamel) the circumstance is a stunner. When their respective best friends Allison (Mad Men's Christina Hendricks) and Peter (Hayes MacArthur) leave them a gift they could never have guessed, their infant daughter Sophie.
That is the jumping off point for the sweet romantic comedy “Life As We Know It” and while the tragedy of Allison and Peter’s death is given some horribly perfunctory treatment by director Craig Berlanti, hint; the characters reactions to their friends death nearly does upend the whole film by lacking in believable grief, the rest of “Life As We Know It” works hard to make up for the massive flaws with charm and romance.
Holly first met Messer when they were set up on a blind date by Allison and Peter. To say the date did not go well is an understatement. Messer showed up late, made no reservations for dinner and took a call and made plans with another girl while next to Holly in her car. The date didn't get past the attempt to drive to the restaurant.
Naturally, since Holly wants nothing to do with Messer, fate conspires to keep them around each other. When Allison marries Peter, Holly is Maid of Honor and Messer is the Best Man. When Peter and Allison get pregnant Holly is named godmother and Messer is the godfather. And when Peter and Allison die tragically, Holly and Messer are thrust together in the most unexpected way ever.
As godparents Holly and Messer are given custody of Sophie, Peter and Allison's infant daughter. They will give up their respective homes and move into Peter and Allison's home. They will try to raise Sophie while trying to spend all of their time fighting each other over schedules, sleeping arrangements and their general loathing of one another.
We always talk about this when it comes to romantic comedies but it's important to note. The fact that few like to acknowledge romantic comedies is that there is little new that can be done in this genre. There are few twists that cannot be guessed by the audience well in advance and the ending of 99% of romantic comedies is known going in.
The best of the genre know this, accept it as fact and work around those issues to craft lovable characters, heartwarming moments and big laughs to keep the audience from focusing on the predictable story. Director Craig Berlanti is best known as a major TV producer whose innovative work on shows like Everwood, Eli Stone and most recently “No Ordinary Family,” actually makes him the ideal director to work the edges of a predictable story.
Berlanti has dealt with the pained atmosphere of the hour-long drama, known mostly for lawyer and doctor shows, by taking chances and giving each of his characters something unique to play. In “Life As We Know It” the unique beats that Duhamel and Heigl play are small but savvy and build not to major revelations but moments that reveal these characters and best of all keep the audience distracted from the predictable end that is always coming.
Josh Duhamel is an actor I have liked just about every time out. Though I loathe the “Transformers” films it's hard to blame Duhamel for taking a paycheck that merely calls for a lot of screaming and running. He sparked great chemistry with Kristen Bell earlier this year in another, far less appealing, romantic comedy “When in Rome” and then really delivered some unexpected terrific work in a supporting role in the family flick “Ramona and Beezus.”
In “Life As We Know It” Josh Duhamel works the charm again, along with that megawatt smile, mussed hair and easy going, McConaughey-esque attitude to such great effect he manages to wear down even the sharpest edges of his often shrill and cold co-star Katherine Heigl.
Though Ms. Heigl would like us to chalk the recent rise of her negative perceptions to a media creation, the fact is her choices have been bad. Whether it was her indelicate exit from TV's Grey's Anatomy, her harsh comments about her star-making comedy “Knocked Up” or her screechy, tone deaf performances in “The Ugly Truth” and “Killers,” Ms. Heigl has earned the downturn of her public persona and the effect it may or may not have on the perception of her film characters.
In “Life As We Know It” whether by design or not, Craig Berlanti plays to Heigl's shrill side and then uses the softer, more charming Mr. Duhamel to take the edge off. The two are exceptionally well matched whether they are bickering opposites or two people on the verge of falling in love.
See “Life as We Know It” for Duhamel and Heigl's chemistry. See it for the strong laughs to groan ratio, a solid 3 laughs for every one groan, and see it if you are just a fan of the few good romantic comedies that get made every year. “Life as We Know It” will not reinvent the genre, it may not fix Ms. Heigl's career, but it's a solid, romantic laffer that succeeds in a genre that people really enjoy.
