Under the lens takes a deep look at films by focusing in on one or two particular areas of the picture that helped to define it for better or for worse. Spoilers will be included in this review.
Life as we know it is a drama-comedy from Director Greg Berlanti and stars Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel, and Josh Lucas. The story is about two single adults who become caregivers to an orphaned girl when their mutual best friends die in an accident, and over time may develop feelings for each other.
Under The Lens: Plot and Cast
Plot: The plot is very odd and very unrealistic, no parents would leave the care of their daughter to two people who dated and hated each other, and never tell them about it. That being beside the point, for a comedy, the start of the story is very dark, however, the fish out of water plot of “parents” with a newborn baby who has no idea what to do is as old as the hills, but also when correctly filmed, comedy gold. It’s hard to tell where this picture went wrong, but it’s just so dull, the viewer feels every minute of its almost 2hr runtime. The humor is not that funny, and the drama is to heavy for a comedy, not to mention the baby cried so much in the picture I began to feel uncomfortable that the director would allow a baby to be this uncomfortable for such an extended time. One scene that comes to find is when the baby is about to walk, and Katherine Heigl‘s character asks Josh Duhamel to delay the baby so she can see it take its first step. He then shoves the baby over, who falls and starts crying. The scene then plays out for the next 5mins with the baby wailing, it felt excessive at times.
Characters: This motion picture is packed to the gills with fantastic character actors, who are cast but then hardly used, Josh Lucas, Christina Hendricks, Melissa McCarthy, Kumail Nanjiani to name a few, are all very interesting, but drift in and out with almost no impact on the story. It’s a shame because the interaction with the leads is some of the best scenes in the film, had the cast been better incorporated I feel the picture could have been vastly improved.
Highlights
Duhamel and Heigl have great chemistry together.
The overall story is interesting if not well executed.
Its very original
Something to think about
What would you do if a friend suddenly left you their child?
Conclusion
Overall Life as we know it, is full of missed opportunities, a great premise, and killer cast could have made this a classic comedy. But poor writing and pacing drag this picture down so that the viewer will be checking their watch, wondering when the credits will roll. If you have nothing else to watch and would like a decent comedy, check this out, it’s not so bad that you will regret it, but not so good as to remember it either.
