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Tuesday 5 June 2012

REVIEW: 'Friends With Kids'

You know how sometimes you see a trailer and you think, 'oh yeah, I have this movie pegged.'

That's what I thought about 'Friends With Kids':


Well... I was wrong... this was not one of those movies I had figured, with all the best bits already in the trailer.

When I saw the preview, I thought, 'Oh! Kristen Wiig. Maya Rudolph. 'Bridesmaids' girls. It'll be funny! Laugh a minute. Plus, two people wanting a baby and having friend-sex to make one. So unrealistic. So Hollywood.'

Well... yes and no.

Kristen Wiig does not have any 'lines.' She does not make you laugh, nor does she mean to. But she does make you think. About how, yes, children can completely change the dynamic of a solid, loving marriage. How you can go from sex like rabbits to... the other end of the spectrum. In her case, it does not end well. And that's true to life.



And yes, Adam Scott and Jennifer Westfeldt [the two buddies who procreate] decide to make a baby, though they over-simplify the implications. Their reasoning: both want a baby and they figure that making one together will keep their relationship platonic, also avoiding the usual toll children can have on romantic relationships. Right again. But what happens when new partners come into the mix? This movie explores that awkwardness well.


One of my favourite scenes is also the most uncomfortable to watch. Jon Hamm's character plays husband to Kristen Wiig's stressed-out [previously sexed-out] mommy/wife, and over a NYE lunch, he lets fly on some inconvenient truths about all the couples in attendance. In particular, he questions what the child shared by the friends will ask about how he came to be when he grows up. Things definitely get ugly.



[A side note: Jon Hamm's real life partner is Jennifer Westfeldt - who also wrote, produced and directed and of course starred in the movie].


Another fave scene is a poo-explosion scene. Yes, excrement does repulse me, even if I have wiped my twins' bums more times than I care to count. It's just that it shows that babies aren't all about those loving Huggies ads, people. They can shit all over your life, in ways you can never, ever be prepared for. Unromantic, but... it's true.


One thing I was right on the money with from the trailer first-view: Megan Fox is impossibly perfect.


'Friends With Kids' opens in Australia this Thursday June 7. 


And to see the trailer, go here: 

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