100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # What to Expect When You're Expecting

Director: Kirk Jones
Genre: Comedy/ Romance/ Drama
Runtime: 110 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Matthew Morrison, Elizabeth Banks, Ben Falcone, Jennifer Lopez, Rodrigo Santoro, Brooklyn Decker, Dennis Quaid, Anna Kendrick, Chace Crawford, Chris Rock, Joe Manganiello

Description: A look at love through the eyes of five interconnected couples experiencing the thrills and surprises of having a baby, and ultimately coming to understand the universal truth that no matter what you plan for, life doesn't always deliver what's expected.

Review: The title tells you everything: all the ins and out about pregnancies and babies. The movie follows five different stories about this subject. First we have Jules, the presenter of a weight loss program, who is having a baby with her partner Evan. There is Gary and his wife Wendy who have been trying to get pregnant for two years. But when it finally happens, it’s not as fantastic as she always thought. Gary’s father Ramsey and his very young new wife Skyler are also expecting, and she does have the glow that Wendy was always hoping for. The young Rosie gets pregnant after a one-night-stand with Marco, the guy who left her on prom night. And finally Holly and Alex who are trying to adopt a child. Holly is ready, but Alex clearly isn’t.
It’s very clever to make an ensemble film out of this concept, multiple storylines work well very often. And various genres are mixed as well. This makes it to an unbalanced film. Over-the-top slapsticks switch to dramatic moments that don’t really fit in here.
Although I love Cameron Diaz, she isn’t the real star in this film. Elizabeth Banks and Ben Falcone, who play Wendy and Gary, and Anna Kendrick and Chace Crawford, as Rosie and Marco, have the most interesting storylines and are the most convincing. I especially think that the last two actors where underused.
It’s definitely an entertaining movie, but it never really hits the mark.

Rating: 2,5/ 5