Friends with Kids

Pickings are slim for grown-up movies and that's what this is. So bought my ticket and was not disappointed. It's a movie for grown-ups, sharp and funny. The thing is, there's barely a whisper of romance or spark of chemistry in the whole set-up. Much focus is on women's bodies, their breasts, their pelvic muscles, their kegel exercises. This kind of frankness is extended to the marital experience of the shared bathroom, frustration of shared chores, mom's post-pregnancy body and baby poo. Funny? Actually, yes. Light or romantic, not for a moment.

The story didn't head in the direction I expected, given the title. It's not a sly comedy or satire of parenthood or how the experience changes a person or a couple. It's more like a story of Friends with Benefits. But the cast is great and it's not formulaic. On the whole, worthwhile. A number of scenes are quite good.

I hate when comedies try to be "real". For some reason a writer will feel that they know the secret to human beings that will totally connect with audiences and make them say, "Finally, someone gets it." Of course this never works and it always comes off as artificial and forced from the actors. Thankfully this doesn't happen so much here with Jennifer Westfeldt's directorial debut (she also wrote it). There are a few moments where this can slightly creep in, but for the most part it actually tackles things in a refreshing, honest way and I was surprised by that.

Of course the premise (two thirtysomething best friends decide to stop waiting and have a kid together) is straight from the rom-com horsecrap handbook, but there are some turns along the way that I thought were surprisingly dark and genuine for something with such a cheap, hokey idea. There are some scenes that key into the stupidity of it all and I was impressed with how Westfeldt's script delved into that. Then again the film does end up being a pretty standard rom-com at the end of it all, so it kind of takes a jab at itself in the end.

Westfeldt assembled a nice group of her actor friends to play out the parts, but unfortunately she didn't have the smarts to cast someone other than herself in the lead. Her co-lead Adam Scott and the supporting cast are all fantastic here, in particular Jon Hamm who steals the entire movie as far as I'm concerned, but the director herself is a very cold and robotic actor. It was hard to feel anything for her or her dynamic with Scott when I couldn't even buy her as a real person. Overall though, this is a solid film of it's type with slightly better writing, a great cast for the most part and unfortunately one god awful ending.

Okay,I wasn't going to say anything but I was so baffled by the other reviews I feel compelled.

This film isn't, just in case you were wondering,' untouched genius'. It's simply , okay. It's like watching people who are quite nice going through a storyline which is slightly familiar. No alarms and no surprises.

I don't wish to add spoilers but one crucial scene which for me explains all the films weaknesses is this; Jennifer Westfeldt looks at herself in the mirror wearing a pair of heels, she decides she doesn't like them , so takes them off and puts on a pair of boots which zip up the side. She sits down on a bed and puts them on, one at a time, then once again she looks at herself in the mirror. This time she is happy with her choice. This is shot in real time, and if memory serves correctly without an edit. Takes about 45 secs. When you write , direct and star [ especially when you haven't been in a movie for a while] ,screen time must be very exciting but filming yourself looking at yourself , pretty explains the whole movie for me.

There's a good reason Kristen Wigg features on the poster, Bridesmaids made millions, she's funny and has got game.

But imagine being in the marketing meeting where you had to explain to Jennifer why her face wouldn't be appearing in any of the advertisements for the film she wrote, directed and starred in. Ouch, that must have been a tough day for her.

In 2011, we were faced with two films asking whether or not it was possible for two people to casually have sex and unintentionally fall in love with one another. In 2012, we are presented with, from what I can see, one film that asks a more debatable and better question; is it possible for two people that are vaguely attracted to one another to have a baby, and while raising it, make efforts to meet and see other people? I'll be completely honest and say I could not and would not ever want to do this, although the idea, when put on the table, immediately sparked my interest. Not only does the idea of having kids disinterest me completely at this point in time, but I find that plan sort of selfish and unfair on both the parents and the child. If the parents seek out relationships with other people, the inevitability of it all will be that one or both of the parents will become so caught up in the new relationship that they will dump the baby on the other person. And unfair for the child, because every baby deserves a prominent mom and dad figure in their life.

Friends With Kids asks this question, using two couples and two very close friends as the subjects. The two friends are Jason (Adam Scott) and Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt, who serves as the writer, one of the six producers, and director), who have been the kind of people who are truly meant for each other, but neither one will wake up and realize it. Their friends are the collective Alex and Leslie (Chris O'Dowd and Maya Rudolph) and the intimate sex-hounds Ben and Missy (Jon Hamm and Kristen Wiig, all four are Bridesmaids alumni). The film opens with them childless, happy, and even more ecstatic once Leslie announces that she will be having a baby at dinner at a luxurious New York restaurant.

Four years later, the two couples have children and their marriages lack the intimacy and cheeriness they once bubbled with. The only two that still seem remotely happy are Jason and Julie, who both remain single and childless. After a disastrous party for Jason, the two talk over the idea of having children, something Julie has wanted for a while seeing as she is older than Jason. Jason and Julie figure that if they have a baby together and then proceed to move forward by dating other people, yet still taking care of the kid, their relationship as friends will not suffer.

They decide to do this on a whim and out of convenience, and nine months later, they have a child. Now here comes the inevitable part; they must support it yet are trying to seek out new people to date as well. Jason falls lust at first sight when he meets the offbeat and attractive Megan Fox's Mary Jane, and Julie can't seem to take her eyes off the rather cliché everyman, Kurt (Edward Burns).

Their friends are concerned for their behavior, mainly because they believe the having-a-child-without-plans-to-marry setup was an impulsive and foolish decision on their part. One area Friends With Kids absolutely wins at is its ability to have believable, real-life conversations that are projected through a mature, human scope. One of the most heartbreaking scenes involves Jason, a rather self-absorbed, egotistical character, confessing to Julie why they could never be together. This scene doesn't pull any punches. It genuinely makes its audience wince. No sight gags or one-liners involved.

Another perfect scene involved Jon Hamm's Ben lecturing Jason on why having a kid was a stupid idea on his part, and how the kid may grow up to be confused and troubled by not having two firm parental figures in his life. These are the scenes that create great humanity and drama between the characters, in an non-contrived, believable manner.

Friends With Kids feels like an exercise in Woody Allen-esque filmmaking, right down to the intellectual characters and the subtle character the state of New York plays. It's charming, often quite poignant, and perhaps offers some keen insights about the idea of raising children that is often forgone in many modern romantic comedies. It's endearing and reassuring to see a picture so true to its "romantic comedy" title.

Starring: Adam Scott, Jennifer Westfeldt, Chris O'Dowd, Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, and Jon Hamm. Directed by: Jennifer Westfeldt.

As with any film, we bring to it as much as we take away, so I'm guessing this is why I thought Friends with Kids was a beautifully written and executed tale of modern love, friendship and family, whereas many people (it seems), thought otherwise. To set the scene of my particular disposition, I'm in my late 30's, female, I don't want children, have many friends with them and see only stress and unhappiness when I'm around them. So the opening 45 minutes was pretty must grist to my particular mill. And then, three lovely moments were subtly conveyed in the remainder of the film, there were no fanfares, or big shiny signposts, which made it all the better. I'm not going to say what they are, dare you to find them for yourselves. All I can say is, for me, the film got love just right and actually made me slightly (very very slightly) broody. This is the kind of film which I think is rarely done well, and whilst there's always room for Sci-fi, thriller and horror (in my world at least), a well observed, funny and moving commentary on the human state that you can relate to is what I think filmmakers should be most proud to do. It makes you think, it makes you feel part of something more.