SYNOPSIS:
Holly is an up-and-coming caterer and Eric is a promising network sports director. After a disastrous first date, the only thing they have in common is their dislike for each other and their love for their goddaughter, Sophie. But when they suddenly become all Sophie has in the world, Holly and Eric are forced to put their differences aside. Juggling career ambitions and competing social calendars, they'll have to find some common ground while living under one roof.
MOVIE REVIEW:
What is life, according to Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel in this romantic comedy? It means, first and foremost, trying your best for a blind date- even if it were your best friends who put you up to it- for you may not know when you might have another run-in with the other party. It also means that we don’t always have a choice in the hand that life deals to us, or for that matter, to those closest to us, nor may we understand it.
Heigl and Duhamel play Holly and Messer- one the uptight career woman and the other the easygoing lad- who first meet three years ago when their best friends fix them up together for a night out. The night goes disastrously wrong, and the only consolation is how quickly it ended- but the pair, whom their mutual friends somehow think have always been right for each other, are now forced to come together to take care of a baby girl, Sophie, the daughter of the said couple who are killed in a car accident.
Holly and Messer have little time to grief, for they have been named Sophie’s guardians and need to quickly learn what it means to endure diapers, sleep deprivation, crying fits, finicky eating and of course, lots of vomit and poop. Yes, these are obligatory stops for any comedy with a baby, and director Greg Berlanti stages them faithfully, with much generous help from his two enthusiastic stars determined to persevere through various bodily projectiles.
Though its initially tragic setup may hint at something different than the usual blend of romance and comedy, writers Ian Deitchman and Kristin Rusk Robinson don’t follow through with this promise. Instead, they rely on the same kind of stock characters that Heigl and Duhamel have played in similar roles before, and the entirely formulaic plot means that you’ll probably guess that the couple will sooner or later discover that their best friends were right in the first instance that they would eventually fall in love.
While there are little surprises to be found, Berlanti differentiates this from the usual crop of rom-coms by injecting it with genuine empathy. Better known for his work on television such as “Brothers and Sisters”, Berlanti’s approach to the tragedy at the heart of this film is restrained and tasteful, without allowing the material to descend into maudlin melodrama. He also takes care to allow his audience to get to know both Holly and Messer, so you’ll feel for their dilemmas and struggles when thrust into that impossible circumstance.
Berlanti’s effort is complimented by great chemistry from Heigl and Duhamel. Heigl is less distant than she usually is in rom-coms such as “The Ugly Truth” or “Killers” and exudes a generally likeable persona despite her character’s flaws. Duhamel puts his handsome charm to good use, especially with Heigl, and the two come off so naturally appealing you can’t help but root for them to get together in the end.
It is Heigl and Duhamel who make this rom-com surprisingly watchable, even though it boasts an all-too familiar plot and none-too inventive comic gags. Thankfully too, its blend of tragedy and comedy comes off earnest and heartfelt, instead of shallow and contrived. At least when it preaches its message of taking life as it comes, you’ll accept its good intentions.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
There is about 14 mins worth of additional scenes here, which consist by and large of Duhamel’s conquest with Sophie in the house alone, a Steve Nash cameo and a video birthday card from the supporting cast who make up Holly and Messer’s mutual friends.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio does its job of delivering the dialogue crisp and full, while the visual transfer is clean and well-contrasted- though it could do with some sharpening especially during close-ups.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
Posted
on 4 March 2011
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