This film follows the story of 5 pregnant women and their partners: Cameron Diaz is a reality TV weight loss show guru who disagrees with her partner over circumcision, Elizabeth Banks is a baby shop proprietor whose husband finds himself drawn unwillingly into competition with father Dennis Quaid over everything (Quaid's trophy wife Brooklyn Decker is having twins: beat that son!),Jennifer Lopez is looking to adopt an Ethiopean baby but hubby is far from sure about parenthood, and takeaway truck worker Anna Kendrick finds herself unexpectedly pregnant after an impetuous one night stand with the guy who was nearly her prom date. These threads intertwine mildly, but the intertwining is incredibly contrived.
Most of these stories have something in them to entertain, and there are some really good things here - Anna Kendrick's performance is wonderful, and Elizabeth Banks' thread is very funny: there is scope for some exaggerated humour from her, to be sure, but I suspect that most mothers will identify with her experiences of impending motherhood more than any of the others.
There is also some not-so-good stuff - the endless visits to the "Fathers Club" where Chris Rock imparts paternal wisdom to Lopez' husband outstay their welcome by a considerable margin, and Quaid's abrupt transition from crass competitor with no empathy to touchy/feely Dad does not ring true at all.
Even so, I quite enjoyed this.
What to Expect When You're Expecting
2012
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance
What to Expect When You're Expecting
2012
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance
Plot summary
Five couples' intertwined lives are turned upside down by the challenges of impending parenthood. Over the moon about starting a family, TV fitness guru Jules and dance show star Evan find that their high-octane celebrity lives don't stand a chance against the surprise demands of pregnancy. Baby-crazy author and advocate Wendy gets a taste of her own militant mommy advice when pregnancy hormones ravage her body; while Wendy's husband, Gary, struggles not to be outdone by his competitive alpha-Dad, who's expecting twins with his much younger trophy wife, Skyler. Photographer Holly is prepared to travel the globe to adopt a child, but her husband Alex isn't so sure, and tries to quiet his panic by attending a "dudes" support group, where new fathers get to tell it like it really is. And rival food truck chefs Rosie and Marco's surprise hook-up results in an unexpected quandary: what to do when your first child comes before your first date?
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720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
Some good moments, but you have to sit through some bad stuff to get to them
Scatter shoot storytelling
Five couples are about to have babies. The expecting parents are; fitness guru Jules (Cameron Diaz) and her TV dance show partner Evan (Matthew Morrison),baby book author/baby store owner Wendy (Elizabeth Banks) and Gary (Ben Falcone),Gary's competitive dad (Dennis Quaid) and his trophy wife Skyler (Brooklyn Decker),photographer Holly (Jennifer Lopez) and uncertain husband Alex (Rodrigo Santoro) plan to adopt oversea, and rival food truck chefs Rosie (Anna Kendrick) and Marco (Chace Crawford) after an one night stand. Also there's a funny dad's group headed by Chris Rock.
There are way too many characters and stories. This makes the movie very shallow and very scattered. It's a mile wide and an inch deep. The scatter shoot effect does land some very funny bits and some emotions. Chris Rock is funny every time he's on screen. Rebel Wilson is also funny with Elizabeth Banks. Gary and his dad relationship is uncomfortably funny. This is a movie where less would be more. The overloading of characters really diminishes the emotions of each story.
As expected
Warning Alert: Dennis Quaid plays a grandfather in this film. I bet that made you feel old!
As expected an average film following interlocking stories of five pregnant women and their partners.
Cameron Diaz is a reality TV show fitness and weight loss guru but disagrees with her partner about almost everything when it comes to raising the baby. Elizabeth Banks runs an avantgarde baby shop. Her husband has issues with his father played by Dennis Quaid who is very competitive being an ex racing driver and has a very young new wife who is also expecting twins.
Anna Kendrick finds herself pregnant after an one night stand. Jennifer Lopez wants to adopt a baby in Africa but her husband is unsure about it.
Periodically Chris Rock turns up as part of the Dads Club who gives paternal wisdom to some of the fathers to be and his scenes are a device to add comedy to the film.
Some of the stories are more successful than others with the Anna Kendrick and Elizabeth Banks stories being more touching whilst others are more run of the mill.
The film's ensemble screenplay is a bit hit and miss and when it comes to the labour scenes you kind of guess that one of the deliveries will not go well but it might lead to a touching father and son reunion.