Writer: Kate Angelo (Screenplay)
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Alex O’Loughlin, Michaela Watkins, Eric Christian Olsen, Anthony Anderson, Noureen DeWulf
Plot: A woman conceives twins through artificial insemination, only to meet the man of her dreams on the very same day.
Tagline – Fall in love.* Get married. Have a baby. *Not necessarily in that order.
Runtime: 1 Hour 44 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Just Not Funny
Story: The Back-Up Plan starts when career minded Zoe (Lopez) decides she wants to start a family, she turns to having artificial insemination, only in the taxi ride home she meets Stan (O’Loughlin) and the two have an instant connection.
As the two start dating, Zoe must bring Stan the news that she is pregnant which will build tension between the two could ruin things before they even get started.
Thoughts on The Back-Up Plan
Characters – Zoe is a pet shop owner that has spent most of her life focusing on her career, now she wants to a family and decides to become artificial inseminated, not thinking it would work first time, she meets her dream guy only for her to need to explain her decision. She is a strange character because she comes off all professional, only to be clumsy and rude in her behaviour, explaining why she was single in the first place. Stan is the small town cheese farmer that walks into Zoe’s life changing it after she decides to have a baby. This is another frustratingly written character because you clearly know he is in a position of money and the struggle wouldn’t be there. The rest of the characters we meet are the mother and father the two talk to about the incoming child and the support group Zoe joins.
Performances – Jennifer Lopez doesn’t give her best performance as she doesn’t handle any of the comedy in the film well enough. There is a reason why Alex O’Loughlin hasn’t gone onto being in many films, he just isn’t leading man material.
Story – The story does have a serious idea of a woman who wants a family making a big decision only for the man of her dreams to walk into her life. The problem comes with just how overly unrealistic the situation feels. The two characters are meant to be everyday, though they have both come from money which takes this away, we only look at the worst from pregnancy and fails to truly focus on the idea that a man would be willing to help father a child that isn’t his. The story does need a much more serious tone even if it does get a couple of laughs along the way.
Romance/Comedy – The comedy misses on nearly ever occasion with the only laughs coming from the dog, the romance is one of those Hollywood love stories of two people that are clearly fictional falling in love at the wrong time.
Settings – The setting puts us in a random setting, well I couldn’t tell which city it is without any iconic locations.
Scene of the Movie – Most scenes with the dog.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Stew moment.
Final Thoughts – This is a rom com that misses way too often, it does have a good idea, but it just doesn’t hit those important moments it could have.
Overall: Sloppy rom com.
Rating