Life as We Know It is a movie about two god-parents who have been willed custody of a baby to raise and the challenges it creates in their relationship. Well okay...they don't start off having a good relationship. In fact, the movie began with their first (blind) date where the guy, Eric Messer (what a fabulous name the writers gave someone who always has a different girl,) makes plans to be with another girl in front of his date, Holly.
Holly manages to meet her dream guy Sam, but before she can date him, a horrible event occurs - her friends die in a car accident leaving Sophie (their baby) orphaned. Surprisingly she discovers that she, along with Messer, are named as guardians.
Considering that they barely could get on in the best of times, it seemed like an impossible task to both take care of Sophie, especially while in the throes of grief. But they manage to do so, to great comedic effect. While both are seeing people on the side, living in a house and raising a child together evokes some fondness and eventually love within them.
The grief in the movie was well-portrayed, and almost the entire theater was crying at some points. Luckily there were some great comedic points to balance it, so it wasn't one constant stream of tears.
A character that always provoked laughter was the Social Services woman. While she was supposed to do surprise check-ups on the two, she always managed to pick the exact worst time - there was drunkenness, drugs, and drama. I found it hilarious that she was supposed to be proper and professional, but she swore and cried and definitely was NOT professional.
The movie deals well with issues that develop from child-raising, not just the sleeplessness, but the difficulty in getting the baby to eat and sleep, the difficulty of finding a babysitter when needed, as well as the cost problems.
I absolutely love the way they chose to end the movie; it was very reminiscent of how they began the movie allowing the story to have come full-circle. They had truly become a family.
pic from flixster.com
The beginning and premise of this movie was very original, allowing the grief to become a part of the writing. Unfortunately midway through the movie, once they started doing drugs, it devolved back into the genre of classic rom-com and became very predictable.
Luckily the acting and writing were portrayed well-enough that the entire theater would laugh or cry along with the characters. I would give this movie a B/B+ because it almost broke the stereotype, but didn't quite get there. Besides, it had me crying for a good portion of the movie, so it definitely evoked some emotion in me.
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