This film follows the story of 5 pregnant women and their partners: Cameron Diaz is a reality TV weight loss show guru who disagrees with her partner over circumcision, Elizabeth Banks is a baby shop proprietor whose husband finds himself drawn unwillingly into competition with father Dennis Quaid over everything (Quaid's trophy wife Brooklyn Decker is having twins: beat that son!), Jennifer Lopez is looking to adopt an Ethiopean baby but hubby is far from sure about parenthood, and takeaway truck worker Anna Kendrick finds herself unexpectedly pregnant after an impetuous one night stand with the guy who was nearly her prom date. These threads intertwine mildly, but the intertwining is incredibly contrived.
Most of these stories have something in them to entertain, and there are some really good things here - Anna Kendrick's performance is wonderful, and Elizabeth Banks' thread is very funny: there is scope for some exaggerated humour from her, to be sure, but I suspect that most mothers will identify with her experiences of impending motherhood more than any of the others.
There is also some not-so-good stuff - the endless visits to the "Fathers Club" where Chris Rock imparts paternal wisdom to Lopez' husband outstay their welcome by a considerable margin, and Quaid's abrupt transition from crass competitor with no empathy to touchy/feely Dad does not ring true at all.
Even so, I quite enjoyed this.
Most of these stories have something in them to entertain, and there are some really good things here - Anna Kendrick's performance is wonderful, and Elizabeth Banks' thread is very funny: there is scope for some exaggerated humour from her, to be sure, but I suspect that most mothers will identify with her experiences of impending motherhood more than any of the others.
There is also some not-so-good stuff - the endless visits to the "Fathers Club" where Chris Rock imparts paternal wisdom to Lopez' husband outstay their welcome by a considerable margin, and Quaid's abrupt transition from crass competitor with no empathy to touchy/feely Dad does not ring true at all.
Even so, I quite enjoyed this.