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 watched this movie after hearing Vernon Davis bring it up on Julian Edelman's podcast. I've always been a big Vernon Davis fan and thought it was really interesting to hear that he is an actor now. They didn't really give away much information on this movie or what Vernon's role was so I pretty much went in blind. He was honestly only in this movie for like 15 minutes but his part was probably the funniest of the whole movie. Seeing him teach a pregnancy class was so unexpected and I had the biggest smile on my face during that whole scene. I don't want to give too much away, but he has an interaction with someone in the class that is absolutely hysterical. I hope he does more movies like this. I can totally see him being an actor like John Cena or The Rock. Like I said, Vernon was just a supporting character but the rest of the movie was really solid. The storyline was really good and it had good laughs sprinkled throughout. Jon Heder was really funny too. I couldn't remember the last time I saw him in a movie so hopefully this marks a comeback for him.

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-.

This is one of the funniest independent movies I've seen all year. I loved the zaniness to the story and how the characters were not exaggerated or over the top. While it's not a romantic movie and much of it is predictable, the film's locations and cultural references made it a fun experience.

Jamie Lee is excellent as the conniving Piper. Jon Heder needed this resurgence - it was a perfect role for him. The one thing preventing me from scoring the movie higher was that some characters were under utilized or not well defined. I think that showing more scenes of how Piper interacted with Cameron's (or perhaps Evan's parents) would have upped the ante. Imagine being told that you're going to become grandparents for the first time, and that dream is snatched away from you. That would have been an interesting reaction to see.

The movie ended on a sweet note, although abruptly. So I do recommend that folks watch this for a date night. Not quite a masterpiece, but it's good-natured and well acted.