Life as We Know It

LIFE AS WE KNOW IT (Greg Berlanti, 2010)

In LIFE AS WE KNOW IT married couple Peter and Alison Novak (Hayes MacArthur and Christina Hendricks) try to set up their best friends with each other, but the disastrous first date between Holly Berenson and Eric Messer (Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel) assures there won’t be a love connection in the near future.

During the next couple years Holly and Messer only cross paths when attending their friends’ parties and doting on Peter and Alison’s baby. One day news arrives that Peter and Alison have died in a car accident and left their two single friends with shared custody of their one-year-old Sophie.

Neither Holly nor Messer were aware of the big responsibility their friends were entrusting them with. The love for their friends and orphaned daughter transcends their dislike for one another, so they try their best to raise a child together and live under the same roof.

Reviewing films usually means assessing the stylistic treatment of a subject rather than critiquing the subject itself. LIFE AS WE KNOW IT is a special case where the core idea of the film is as off-putting as the way in which the premise is depicted. When it comes to films featuring characters engaging in controlling behavior from beyond the grave, LIFE AS WE KNOW IT ranks up there with the romance P.S. I LOVE YOU, in which Hilary Swank’s dead husband’s letters dictate her day-to-day life.

Screenwriters Ian Deitchman and Kristin Rusk Robinson set up a scenario in which the loss of two close friends isn’t traumatic enough. Instead the protagonists must also rearrange their entire lives, give up their own places, and become unwitting caretakers to an orphaned child in their deceased friends’ home. No worries, though. It’s all to be accepted because those friends knew these two single people were meant to be together despite all evidence to the contrary.

Director Greg Berlanti’s romantic comedy approach makes LIFE AS WE KNOW IT’S rather repellent set-up even more unpalatable. The cutesy but chemistry-free banter, scenes of playing house, and Holly and Messer’s neighbors finding the situation so adorable are among the major miscalculations in tone.

In fairness, the film doesn’t ignore the strains on the main characters. It simply chalks them up to the worthwhile costs of Holly and Messer getting necessary life makeovers. The film’s comfortable sitcom-like form allows LIFE AS WE KNOW IT to settle into a groove in which the goings-on are taken for granted no matter how deeply dysfunctional this arrangement is. While Sarah Burns’ funny performance as a frazzled social services case worker deserves a better film than this, thankfully she brings the needed acknowledgement of how absurd the basis of it is.

Grade: C-

The Ugly Truth

THE UGLY TRUTH (Robert Luketic, 2009)

Is there nothing grander than young love born from loathing and hatred? So says THE UGLY TRUTH.

Television morning show producer Abby (Katherine Heigl) would like to meet and marry Mr. Right, but she's not in any hurry to encounter who she envisions as the ideal man. It's a good thing Abby can wait. No one is likely to match the extensive and impractical checklist of criteria she's decided her companion must match.

Cable access show host Mike (Gerard Butler) dispenses relationship advice that, at best, could be considered sexist and more likely is misogynist. Mike's crude musings about men and women infuriates Abby when she stumbles upon his program one evening. The following morning she's even less pleased to learn that this oaf has been hired to goose the ratings for her show.

Mike and Abby get along grudgingly for the sake of work. To persuade her that his philosophies about interactions between the genders have merit, Mike offers some CYRANO DE BERGERAC-like help so Abby ensnare the hot podiatrist next door. She consents to carrying out his seduction techniques despite being unconvinced about his methods.

Romantic comedies have a tradition of exaggerating how people act and respond when it comes to matters of the heart, but even by those loose standards THE UGLY TRUTH far exceeds the limits of believable behavior. The film's comedic centerpiece is a scene in which Abby is humiliated during an important business dinner. It's the perfect encapsulation of everything wrong with THE UGLY TRUTH. The individual developments test the screenwriting credibility enough as it is. The chain of events is wholly implausible.

First, Abby and Mike have a graphic discussion at work about her sexual frustration. Next, Mike sends her vibrating panties to relieve the tension. Abby's date informs her that he's running late, so she slips on the stimulating underwear to bide the time. Practically as she's putting them on, Mike and her boss are at her door insisting that she must accompany them to a critical meeting. Perhaps mistakenly she slides the panties' remote into her purse and departs with her co-workers. At the restaurant the control falls out of her purse and is picked up by a boy. Since the remote looks like a gadget developed by a scientist in a 1950s movie, the boy begins playing with the device. The vibrating panties start working their magic. Rather than excusing herself, Abby moans and twitches in ecstasy in front of the entire restaurant. Mike even notices that the boy has the remote, but instead of putting an end to the situation, he is amused by it all and lets it continue.

While a similar scene takes place in WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, there are crucial differences between the films. It's debatable whether either scenario might occur in public in real life, but unlike Meg Ryan's Sally, Abby in THE UGLY TRUTH has no control of the situation and is the one being embarrassed. In WHEN HARRY MET SALLY the humor derives from the male character's belief being challenged and him being made uncomfortable. Abby's degradation in THE UGLY TRUTH has a measure of vindictiveness and elicits cruel laughter. THE UGLY TRUTH has a pretty hateful attitude toward women, something forcefully emphasized in this scene

THE UGLY TRUTH'S gender politics draw inspiration from THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, but that doesn't absolve the coarse and nasty tone throughout a film that's supposedly a love story. Two-thirds of THE UGLY TRUTH concentrates on knocking Abby down peg after peg and provides no basis for attraction between her and Mike before delivering the predictable and dubious third act change of heart. THE UGLY TRUTH has all the honesty and romance of an Axe body spray commercial.

Grade: D+

27 Dresses

27 DRESSES (Anne Fletcher, 2008)

Like the bumbling leading man in a romantic comedy, the movies have been looking for America's next sweetheart but haven't found her yet. For a time Reese Witherspoon appeared to be first in line as Julia Roberts' successor. Despite expectations, she never seemed to aspire to the title. Rachel McAdams was also poised to step into Roberts' shoes, but she has been absent from movie theaters for more than two years, an eternity in today's star-making machine.

So the role of the nation's favorite leading lady remains up for grabs. Katherine Heigl's delightful performance in 27 DRESSES indicates that it's hers for the taking if she wants it.

Heigl's Jane is the perpetual bridesmaid to friends, co-workers, and, as the 27 dresses in her closet suggest, any acquaintances who ask her. She accepts the attendant responsibilities with genuine happiness and interest, but one can sense that just once she would like to be the center of attention than in the supporting cast.

Jane's wedding day is anything but imminent, though. Every page of her Filofax is filled with bridesmaid duties that keep her busy and and unable to work on her personal life. A hopeless crush on her saintly and oblivious boss George (Edward Burns) is the extent of her romantic prospects, and even that infatuation evaporates when her younger sister Tess (Malin Akerman) snags the bland bachelor.

New York Journal society writer Kevin (James Marsden) spots Jane taxiing between two weddings on the same night. Upon finding her Dagwood-like planner, he becomes more intrigued in her dedication to the nuptials of others. In her Kevin sees a story that can release him from the drudgery of covering the weddings of the wealthy.

You can probably guess where 27 DRESSES is headed, and you'd be right. By their nature, romantic comedies are highly predictable because they provide the rush of discovering love that audiences seek. The characters may be prettier and richer versions of ourselves, but they share our foibles and fumblings and overcome them, as we hope will happen in real life.

Jane is the viewer's stand-in, so it's silly to criticize the film for acting as though men wouldn't be knocking down her door. The character proves to be a kind, confident woman with more heartache than she'd like but an optimistic attitude nevertheless. (Lest her perfection become overbearing, she's paired with a wonderfully snarky Judy Greer in the thankless best friend part.) Heigl smashes this softball of a role out of the park. How could she not endear herself to the audience?

Aline Brosh McKenna's screenplay constructs 27 DRESSES as more of a character piece, which offsets a good deal of the story's predictability. The indicators of a boilerplate romantic comedy are visible, but they aren't given much significance. For that matter, Jane's inevitable romance with Kevin seems almost an afterthought, which spares us from the genre's maddening habit of generating massive shockwaves from tiny, easy-to-fix misunderstandings. Since the film concentrates on having fun with the character than getting to her destination, it seems more effortless. Even the clichéd public sing-along--Jane and Kevin belt "Benny and the Jets" in a bar--is playful and amusing.

Bridesmaid dresses are notorious for being unflattering, single occasion garments. Although formulaic, 27 DRESSES wears well on its star. Whether it crowns Heigl as America's sweetheart or leaves her earthbound as another pretender to the Julia Roberts throne is up to the public.

Grade: B