Plan B

Greetings again from the darkness. The seeds of some of the best comedies are sown in real life scenarios and take advantage of the awkward reactions of everyday folks. The first feature film from writer-director Brandon Tamburri and co-writer Jean S Monpere takes on a cringeworthy situation that likely happens more frequently than we'd expect: a drunken woman sleeps with a guy and ends up pregnant from the encounter. Her decision tree is questionable leading to drama with real world ramifications. To make this palatable, the filmmakers take a comedic approach.

Jamie Lee ("Crashing") stars as Piper, the above-referenced drunken woman who bumps into her neighbor, Evan Ebert, as she stumbles back home from a night of partying. Most movie goers probably haven't seen Jon Heder on screen since NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (2004), although he has worked regularly and often since. Many will be surprised when he pops up as nice guy (and yes, quite quirky) Evan, the initially lucky neighbor in this scenario. Evan is the kind of guy who introduces himself as "a certified Uber driver", has a pet named Cat Sajak, and has had a quiet crush on Piper for quite some time. In contrast, Piper is the kind who, when she finds out she's pregnant, decides not to tell Evan he's going to be a father, and instead begins scouting for a more acceptable 'Baby Daddy'.

In order to reduce the disgusting nature of Piper's plan, comedy is infused into most every scene. Piper's roommate Maya (Subhah Agarwal, writer on "The Jim Jeffries Show") acts as a bit of conscience for her friend, yet is unsuccessful in talking her out of it. Cameron (Michael Lombardi), a regular customer at the coffee shop where Piper works, is handsome and successful, and due to the necessarily tight timeline, becomes the target of Piper's plan. Again, know that this is mostly played for laughs, including Shannon Elizabeth (AMERICAN PIE, 1999) as Cameron's 'cheesecake' loving inappropriate boss; Kate Flannery ("The Office") as the publisher who is interested in Piper's Instagram "I Spy Love"; and Tom Berenger (with blindingly white teeth) and Suzanne Savoy as Cameron's parents.

If the above description wasn't enough, nice guy Evan also volunteers to accompany Piper to her Lamaze class ... administered by a tough guy played by former NFL player Vernon Davis. Again, all of the inappropriate and insincere aspects of the story (and Piper's actions) are delivered with comedic intentions - most in an exaggerated manner. Of course, we all know how this is going to end, so it really comes down to whether you can accept the humor and the personal growth shown by Piper.

Available on VOD and Digital on September 27, 2024.

Though this isn't really anything groundbreaking, it's better than the majority of the romantic comedy movies that have come out in the last few years. So many of the Netflix romcoms just aren't funny. I laughed out loud several times while watching this which doesn't happen most of the time. The writing was the best part of the movie. While the dialogue was very funny, the funniest moments of this film were created from the absurd situations that the characters got themselves into. Jon Heder was great every time he was on screen. The scenes with his mom and his cat, Cat Sajak, were my favorites. I wasn't familiar with Michael Lombardi before this movie but he was very handsome and charming.

I watch the majority of comedy movies that come out nowadays and I can honestly say this one of the better ones that I've seen over the last 4-5 years. In a world of remakes and reboots, this concept felt original enough to draw me in. I'll also say that it's not only laugh out loud funny but it has so much heart. My favorite comedies are the ones that make you laugh throughout and then tear up at the end. This did just that. I don't want to give any spoilers, but the payoff at the end is extremely rewarding and I couldn't help but have a huge smile on my face. I also loved the contrast between Jon Heder and Michael Lombardi. Two polar opposites yet both prove to be charming in their own way. My score for this is an A-.

I'm honestly not a huge fan of comedy movies and I'm certainly not a fan of romantic comedies...I watched this solely because I saw that Tom Berenger was in it. I live for the Sniper movies and watch everything that Tom Berenger does. I have to say, I had no idea that he could be so funny. I suppose Major League and the Big Chill are comedies, but not in the traditional sense like Plan B. I'm still hoping they make another Sniper movie but after seeing this, I wouldn't be opposed to Tom Berenger going the Robert De Niro route and starting to focus more on comedy movies as he gets older. He's clearly got the chops for it. The rest of the cast were good in this too. I really enjoyed this movie.

Even though I watched this in 2025, it came out in 2024 so I'd say this was absolutely one of my favorite romantic comedies of 2024. I don't recall seeing any trailer or marketing for this movie (but maybe I just missed it) and I'm not sure why. To me, this was just as good as the better romcoms of the last couple years like No Hard Feelings and Anyone But You. It had more of an indie feel to it and it was probably made for a couple million dollars opposed to $25M-$50M like the other films I mentioned. Regardless, Jamie Lee carries this movie and I can't wait to see what she does after this. I get that she's not a big name Sydney Sweeney or Jennifer Lawrence but she truly crushes it in Plan B.