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What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012)

Director: Kirk Jones

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From Time Out London

Birth control doesn’t come much more surreptitiously effective than this harrowing riff on Heidi Murkoff’s bestselling pregnancy guide -- the latest in Hollywood’s recent line of ghastly ensemble romcoms in which a handful of truncated, tenuously linked storylines allow for maximum star wattage and minimum screenwriting effort. (See ‘New Year’s Eve’ and ‘Valentine’s Day’ - or better yet, don’t.) Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz and Elizabeth Banks are among the A-listers awaiting the pitter-patter of tiny feet in a film that aims to elicit smiles of recognition from women who have been through it all before. But unless you’ve engineered a meet-cute out of a miscarriage, or think that calling an uncoordinated toddler a ‘spaz’ is a real comedic zinger, chances are you won’t identify much with these shrill, self-absorbed parents-to-be. Lopez brings some conviction to her stock role as an infertile would-be mum; Cheryl Cole rather less to her cameo as a TV talent-show judge. Bringing a child into the world is no laughing matter, and all involved seem to have done their level best to make things as mirthless as possible.

Author: Guy Lodge

Time Out London Issue 2179: May 24-30, 2012

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User reviews of this film

Ian said...

Posted on May 26 2012 16:51 The film is every bit as bad as the review says. If anything it is worse. I thought the ensemble rom-com couldn't get worse after New Years Day but I was wrong.
All the poor reveiewsa aren't wrong. You struggle to empathise with many of the characters and deep down you think that the stars signed up without reading the script because if they had surely they would have given it a wide berth.
It is truly a stinker. Worth one star, just.

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