LIFE AS WE KNOW IT
(PG-13)
MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: **1/2 (out of 5)
BY KEVIN CARR
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel play a young non-couple who do not like each other but have mutual friends. When said friends die in a car accident, they are left as the godparents of the couple’s daughter Sophie. Together, they must learn to live together so they can become parents to the child and raise her in a stable home.
WHAT I LIKED
I like a good romantic comedy, and it’s refreshing to see that Hollywood is still making those in light of the recent (and somewhat desperate) trend to raunch them up to fit in the Apatow model. “Life As We Know It” definitely pushes all the right buttons, from the cute kid mugging at the camera to the attractiveness of the stars.
Much of the film plays out decently for the rom com crowd, and Duhamel definitely seems comfortable in the role, considering he’s subordinate in the film to Heigl (who fancies herself a massive rom com star but barely holds it together for each film).
“Life As We Know It” is a date movie at heart. Use it to make your lady happy. There’s worse movies out there to see.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
How much you like “Life As We Know It” greatly depends on your tolerance of Katherine Heigl. I personally find her smug, irritating, arrogant and not that good of an actress. So, watching this film was an uphill battle.
It seems that whenever Heigl is cast in a film like this, she’s made into a stiff, borderline-OCD character. I’m not sure this works in any sense, unless you’ve secretly got a thing for the shrill and prissy Kate Gosselin type. Heigl lacks a level of relateability, at least for someone like me. It’s something that Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Drew Barrymore and Reese Witherspoon never had a problem with. In short, I find Heigl attractive, but it just seems like it wouldn’t be worth it when dealing with her on-screen (and if rumor serves, off-screen) persona.
So if you’re like me, and you don’t like Katherine Heigl, you’ll want to skip this one.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
While the Blu-ray features are not extensive on this disc, it’s got some pretty entertaining smaller ones. There’s about 15 minutes of deleted scenes, which are also available on the DVD. Blu-ray exclusive features include “A Survival Guide to Instant Parenting” which includes cast members offering funny parenting advice (which seems to be mostly delivered in-character).
There’s also a spotlight on Katherine Heigl called “Becoming the Best Mom Ever,” which is alarmingly self-congratulatory (not a surprise considering Heigl is an executive producer on the film). Finally, there’s a spotlight on Josh Duhamel called “The Triplet Tamer,” which focuses on his relationship with the triplets who play his on-screen daughter.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
People who like rom coms and Katherine Heigl, but you’ve gotta like both.