Life As We Know It
Life As We Know It actually gets rolling after the death of young parents Alison (Mad Men’s zaftig Christina Hendricks) and Peter (Hayes MacArthur) whose wish is that their best friends take guardianship of their infant daughter Sophie in the event of their demise. It’s hard enough for people who love one another to raise the fruit of their loins through financial woes and lack of sleep but what if surrogate mom and dad aren’t exactly in love? That’s the kicker here as Alison’s best friend Holly Berenson (Katherine Heigl) and Peter’s best friend Eric Messer (Mr. Fergie Josh Duhamel) absolutely loathe each other. Of course anyone who has ever seen a romantic comedy knows exactly where this is going but it’s still fun to tag along. Complicating things is Janine Groff (Sarah Burns) a sceptical social worker and Sam (Josh Lucas) a paediatrician with a bedside manner that Holly wants to explore further. Comic kudos also go to DeeDee (Melissa McCarthy) a kindly butt-in-sky in the adopted neighbourhood that’s also home to Josh (Langley’s Will Sasso). There is an absolute suspension of disbelief that Katherine Heigl would ever need help getting a date and the story by neophyte writers Ian Deitchman & Kristin Rusk Robinson unfolds with textbook Hollywood formulation but the laughs are fresh. Knocked Up is proof that Heigel is no stranger to taking risks and despite forewarnings from WC Fields to never work with children or dogs she takes on this role opposite an adorable child (triplets actually - Alexis, Brynn and Brooke Clagett). Luckily the toddler is just slightly less adorable than Heigel herself.