Friends With Kids Review

Jason (Adam Scott) and Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt) are two best friends in their 30s who live in the same building in Manhattan. After watching their close friends, Ben (Jon Hamm) and Missy (Kristin Wigg), and Alex (Chris O'Dowd) and Leslie (Maya Rudolph), settle down and have kicks, the pair complain to one another that their friends have become horrible people and seem to now have horrible lives. They both want to have children desperately, Julie is getting old, and Jason has commitment issues, but don't want to have to go through the trouble of finding 'The One' and getting married to do so. With this they decide that they'll have a child together, and mutually share the responsibility.

The movie starts off well, it doesn't try too hard for the laughs, and the comedy seems natural. The couple and their friends are just a normal bunch of adults (if a little on the immature side) who are having fun. It's only after Jason and Julie hilariously go forward with their plan, much to the concern of their friends, and have the baby, when the novelty of the idea starts to wear off. After the birth of their child, Joe, Friends With Kids falls victim to the limits of the romantic comedy genre. Naturally, things don't stay platonic and Julie grows affections for Jason, but of course Jason now thinks he has found 'The-One' in Mary Jane (Megan Fox). And thus begins the prolonged journey of will they won't they, with both Jason and Julie dating other people, repressing their feelings for each other, and making plenty of mistakes before the inevitable end.

While the overall format of the film may hinder the story, that's not to say there weren't any entertaining parts. There are plenty of one-liners, Jason and Julie's 'friendship' is genuinely enjoyable to watch, and there are a couple of diner scenes that are quite memorable. What makes Friends With Kids stand out among other romantic comedies though is its ability to not shy away from thought provoking subject matter in between the laughs. It raises questions about what it means to be in a marriage, a parent, and how both of these institutions mean very different things nowadays compared to what they used to. There are some scenes in fact, in which it could be mistaken for a dark drama, particularly where the macabre characters of Ben and Missy are involved. Although this is refreshing to see in a romantic comedy, it's a difficult aspect to balance into the film, and there are some moments that are just too depressing to belong in a film of this type.
The film however does try it's hardest to do something innovative, and it must be commended as a very progressive and new age romantic comedy if nothing else.

Rating: 3/5