Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie''s plot.

Life As We Know It - A rom-com that's both unrealistic and completely predictable.  In other words, it's your basic average movie.

Holly and Messer (Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel) are single adults, building their careers and living a fairly care-free existence.  They have mutual friends who set them up on a blind date, which goes unbelievably wrong in the first few minutes, and the two part ways hoping to never see each other again. 

Of course, that can't happen, when you have friends in common, so they put up with having to see each other occasionally.  But then tragedy happens - the friends are killed.  And lo and behold, the friends had named Holly and Messer as guardians for their infant daughter.  This comes as a complete shock to them as neither had any idea of this plan beforehand.

Now they're stuck - each loves the baby and wants to honor their friends' wishes.  But can two people who can barely stand each other live together, and raise a child together, without killing each other in the process?

That's the premise, and I found it to be an unrealistic one.  I don't know anyone who leaves their baby to two people who not only aren't married, but they don't even like each other!  Worse, the two people were never consulted about this responsibility.

But - that's the premise - you just have to accept it, I guess.

I found the humor in this movie to be fairly lame.  Mostly, it revolved around baby-spit-up jokes and baby-poop-jokes.  Now I suppose some people find that stuff adorable; I'm not one of those people.  There were a few cute scenes that didn't revolve around the baby, but they were few and far between.  One that sticks in my mind involves the one where Holly tries to drive Messer's motorcycle.  The result was humorous, and seeing Holly drift so far away from her normally uptight character, brought a genuine smile to my lips.  But, like I said, moments like those were few and far between.

Mostly what we have is an unbelievably formulaic movie.  You can probably guess most of what happens without my telling you.  Couple's completely different personalities cause them to argue?  Check.  Couple attempt to live a normal life and date others, but feelings of jealousy arise?  Check.  Court-ordered social worker arrives only at the most inconvenient moments?  Check. Couple's complete devotion to baby brings them together when baby needs them most?  Check.  There's even a running-through-the-airport scene and a tense "oh my god, is it too late?" moment.  In other words, it mirrors every other rom-com you've ever seen.

Not to say that it's all bad.  I actually found the fact that both people are so devoted to the baby endearing.  Especially since neither had any experience with babies before this one landed in their laps.  I could well understand either or both declining the guardianship, but they didn't.  I admired that.  And some of the scenes with the baby were truly adorable. 

I also liked the way the neighbors accepted these people into their lives, and actually tried to offer advice and help.  And it was cute how the women all flirted with Messer (let's face it, Duhamel is quite easy on the eyes).  And the young babysitter was very sweet.

So, in the end, this is a very average movie.  Unrealistic, and ridiculously formulaic.  But it is capable of generating at least a few smiles.  Not the worst movie, not the best.

Recommended: No