We’ve generally given Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel a hard time around these parts but not without good reason. Heigl has starred in a string of increasingly terrible, incredibly predictable and thoroughly undercooked romcoms while Duhamel has pretty much been a non-entity in whatever film he happens to be in. So color us surprised that in the latest, seemingly run-of-the-mill romantic comedy “Life As We Know It,” not only do Heigl and Duhamel shine in their parts, but the film attempts a surprisingly fresh take on the genre that is, unfortunately, done in by an ending that sells both the film and the actors short.
The film starts out with a fairly standard set up: Holly (Katherine Heigl) and Messer (Josh Duhamel) are set up on a blind date by their mutual friends and from the first moment its apparent they are not a match. While she is dressed to the nines, Messer shows up an hour late looking hobo chic. They decide to go out anyway, but Holly calls it off after Messer takes gets a phone call confirming an appointment for a booty call later in the evening. While Holly would like nothing better than to never see him again, they are each best friends of married couple Peter (Hayes MacArthur) and Allison (Christina Hendricks). Holly and Messer keep bumping into each other at various social gatherings but their mutual dislike for each other is not a secret.
However, things take a turn for the serious when Peter and Allison are killed in an accident and, as stipulated in their will, leave the guardianship of their young daughter Sophie (Alexis, Brynn and Brooke Clagett) to Holly and Messer. Yes, it’s pretty much the cinematic equivalent of the “Seinfeld” sentenced-to-be-a-butler sitcom gag but it’s sold with enough convincing that audiences will let it slide. Anyhow, fearing Sophie will end up with a foster family and with no other next of kin, Holly and Messer agree to both move into Peter and Allison’s home and care for the child until they figure out what the next steps are.
And from this part on — basically the middle section of the film — is where the script by Ian Deitchman and Kristin Rusk Robinson goes in some potentially intriguing directions. Basically, they don’t fall in love as you would expect. They both sleep in separate rooms in the house, go about their dream jobs (Holly runs a gourmet bakery and Messer is a technical director for the Atlanta Falcons), while splitting the duties of raising Sophie. Holly takes an interest in the local pediatrician Sam (Josh Lucas) while Messer continues his string of one night stands. Now living in the suburbs, they meet a gallery of neighbors, all of whom seem to underscore that the traditional family isn’t all its cracked up to be. Each of the couples they encounter seem trapped in relationships now driven by their offspring with their former ambitions and dreams dashed. And just when the film seems to settle on an ending that is both bittersweet and mature, the film lumbers on for another twenty minutes where you can practically hear Warner Bros. executives shaping the conclusion as if they’re reading directly from test screening comment cards.
Without spoiling things too much, the film pretty much ignores everything it has set up to that point while the last quarter of the film only serves to highlight more than ever the shortcomings of the script that until now could be have glossed over. While Heigl and Duhamel are both charming in their roles — particularly Duhamel who has never been as engaging or as funny as he is here — they can’t overcome their thinly drawn characters as hard as they do try. Heigl once again plays a frigid bitch in some fantastic pencil skirts and heels, while Duhamel is a self-centered, sports-loving, motorcycle-riding, pussy-chaser. And if the film had ended where it should have, it would have been a harsher, but more honest evaluation of the characters (and yet, without enough sincere growth to be hopeful). But as it spirals into its final act (pushing the film into a too-long two-hour running time) the characters embrace a lifestyle that the script has been criticizing for the bulk of the film, suggesting — as every other film of this ilk boringly does — that people have no choice but to choose between children or their dreams. God forbid a movie actually show a couple who find a way to incorporate a new life while keeping their great jobs and friends. You know, like actual people do?
Greg Berlanti, who returns behind the camera ten years after “The Broken Hearts Club” (and is better known in geek circles for writing “Green Lantern”) does a solid if not particularly remarkable job. He does have a good sense of pacing even if he does fall onto the crutch of a montage a few times too often throughout the film. But you know what? Give the guy a decent script and perhaps set him up with an indie production and we could see him nailing it. Anyone who can make Heigl and Duhamel likeable on screen for two hours is clearly doing something right. He strikes the difficult tone between comedy and drama in “Life As You Know It” pretty much right on, and we’d be curious to see what he could do with better material.
“Life As We Know It” might see some better than average reviews merely because it’s better than what the misleading trailers are selling. It’s definitely far more dramatic, and even more complex than it seems, but as the running time goes on, any initial spark it may have had is quickly deadened by a turn to the conventional. “Life As You Know It” ultimately becomes pretty much everything you likely expected. [C+]