DVD Reviews

Life As We Know It

• Rating:
• Director: greg berlanti
• Starring: christina hendricks
• Details: US/113mins 12A

There's going to come a point - and surely it'll come soon - when Katherine Heigl won't get away with portraying the pretty, but comically desperate singleton. Here she's playing, essentially, the same part as she did in 27 Dresses, The Ugly Truth and (the god awful) Killers. Sure, she's charming on screen, has fine comic timing, and is inoffensively pretty enough to appeal to the masses, be it male or female, but she's in imminent danger of becoming utterly boring. Starring opposite latest man meat, Josh Duhamel, this familiar feeling production is sporadically sweet and engaging, but all too familiar.
We first meet Duhamel and Heigl in a pre-credit sequence where they've been set up by their two best mates, who just recently started dating themselves. Naturally, they completely hate each other, and their relationship goes no further. But when the aforementioned mates get hitched and squeeze out a sprog, they are forced to get along for the sake of their pals, and the kid. Tragically, both of their lives are turned upside down when their friends are killed in a car accident, leaving an orphaned one year old. After finding out that the will bestowed custody to the both of them, they go about attempting to raise a child, and not kill each other in the process.
It's hard not to be reminded of other 'parent out of water' movies when sitting through Life As We Know It, and better ones. Who knew that Three Men and a Baby would be so seminal, but the gags from that movie have been regurgitated more often over the years than a Jay Leno punchline. Writer/director Berlanti manages to inject an odd bit of charm here and there, but it's nothing you can't see sitting at home watching Desperate Housewives or Modern Family - the latter in particular is far more fun.
Duhamel and Heigl do make for an engaging pairing, with the Transformers star playing up on his blokey charm, and obvious good looks to mildly amusing effect. He seems to be going down a similar route to Ryan Reynolds to find superstardom, and he's never less than an amiable presence on screen. Heigl is cute, funny and taking the piss; if she was giving the same performance in decent films, it could be somewhat forgiven, but the repetitiveness is becoming increasingly heave-worthy.
Inoffensive and watchable, it still outstays its welcome whilst managing to squeeze in one final epic cliché before the credits role. Undemanding viewing if you've seen everything else.

Review by Mike Sheridan