LIFE AS WE KNOW IT

RYAN: We were lucky enough to attend the premiere of the new Katherine Heigl/Josh Duhamel romantic comedy, Life As We Know It, and we had fun interviewing celebs on the red carpet.

CAROLINE: I don’t know if I’d call waiting over an hour for Katherine Heigl to come talk to us fun, but it’s always great to go to a premiere. I was really excited for this movie because of the great cast and the very cute trailer. And while I totally enjoyed it, it’s more of a really good rental than a must see on the big screen.

RYAN: I agree completely. This movie is so predictable, and I know that’s true of romantic comedies as a rule, but this one is just beyond. Every step of the way we were whispering to each other what was going to happen next.

CAROLINE: This movie also borrowed – and by that, I mean stole – scenes from other movies and TV shows we’ve seen; like getting baby poop on your face, which we saw on Sex and the City, or having a private, candlelit dinner after hours in the café you own, which we saw in It’s Complicated last year.

RYAN: The performances are good, and there are several very funny scenes that made us laugh out loud. I especially enjoyed the pop culture references and jokes about celebrities.

CAROLINE: I was pleasantly surprised by Josh Duhamel’s comedic timing. I haven’t seen him in that many movies, though we did just see him in The Romantics recently. Not only is he incredibly easy on the eyes, but he also gave a really good performance here. I read that Katherine Heigl really fought for him in the role, and now I know why.

RYAN: As co-executive producer, she can do that. I thought this was a good role for her too.

CAROLINE: Isn’t it time for her to branch out though? How many rom coms can a girl do?

RYAN: Totally. But maybe she just loves the genre and loves doing these kinds of roles a la Julia Roberts or Meg Ryan.

CAROLINE: Yes, but both of those ladies eventually took a turn for the dramatic, and I’d like to see Katherine do that same.

RYAN: Well, maybe she hasn’t had the opportunity yet. One thing that irritated me about this movie was that the baby, who’s beyond adorable, was so edited in every shot. It’s like they shot her for hours and hours and waited for the perfect head tilt or smile and then used that one shot in the movie. Clearly, no baby can take direction.

CAROLINE: The baby is actually played by triplets, but I know what you mean. And they did show some crying moments to even it out. At the end of the day, it has a lot of laughs, and some truly heartwarming and heartbreaking moments too. I definitely got misty a few times. But even though I love this genre, this one is just so predictable that even I had to groan.

RYAN: I’m a big fan of the director, Greg Berlanti, who’s primarily done television prior to this. It was well directed and I’m impressed by him as usual.

— BOTTOM LINE —

CAROLINE: I enjoyed this movie and it made me laugh, but I have to call it a rental. Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel were good together, but the premise is a little absurd. I know it’s a rom com, so I’ll let it slide, but still. It’s too predictable to be a great movie, but you’ll be very happy to catch it on HBO sometime.

RYAN: I liked it too, but the premise is so thin that about halfway through I got aggravated with it and checked out a little bit. The energy picks back up toward the end, but there were a few bad rom com clichés that disappointed me. But we are the target audience for this movie, and it worked for us overall.

CAROLINE: It was way too long though. No romantic comedy should be a full two hours.

— RATING —