
Friends With Kids Review
Love. Happiness. Kids. Pick two. That's the clever tagline from the movie Friends with Kids, a fun if ultimately forgettable romantic comedy that tries to be different but ultimately ends up exactly how you'd expect it to.
Written and directed by - oh, and starring - Jennifer Westfeldt, Friends with Kids is about two best friends, Jason (Adam Scott) and Julie, who love each other platonically but have no interest in dating. Both watch in horror as their married friends (played by Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Chris O'Dowd, who all starred in a little film you may have heard of called Bridesmaids) begin to have children, which in turn twists them into horrible, angry people who spend most of their time fighting and arguing amongst the screams and whines of their children.
On a whim, Jason and Julie decide to get pregnant together - but bypass love and marriage under the belief that kids are great but will drive a wedge into any loving relationship.
Take one damned guess how you think that turns out.
Friends with Kids is your typical romantic comedy, though it plays from a man's perspective - despite being written by Westfeldt. The two lead characters are clearly going to end up together, but while they're figuring their crap out, they get to have sex with the like of Ed Burns and Megan Fox while spouting dialogue about how kids ruin relationships, large penises and other things not normally associated with romantic comedies.
But then the third act hits and Friends with Kids becomes just like any other - and just as forgettable. Jason and Julie think they've fallen in love with other people, they get into a fight and decide they can no longer be friends. Cue the third act conflict!
Friends with Kids isn't as funny as it thinks it is, but still has some laughs, and Westfeldt and Scott have good enough chemistry with one another to make their relationship believable. Given the cast, Friends with Kids could have been funnier and edgier, but as is it makes for a worthwhile rental.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.