Friends with Kids - Movie Review

Written and Directed by Jennifer Westfeldt
Running Time: 107 minutes (1h, 47 mins.)
Rated R (for sexual content and language).
Distributor: Lionsgate (Roadside Attractions)

Okay, so we already know the existance of friends with benefits (two friends (man and woman) who decide to have sex without any emotions or commitment involved) as seen in two films last year, No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits. Of course, one was better than the other (*cough* Friends with Benefits), but this year we get a break from that and enter a new kind of relationship: friends with kids. Yeah, if you thought two friends having sex was weird, this is even weirder.

The movie follows Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt) and Jason (Adam Scott), a pair of best friends who notice the effect children have on the married couples they know: Missy & Ben (Kristen Wiig and Jon Hamm) and Leslie & Alex (Maya Rudolph and Chris O'Dowd). Despite being unmarried or in any kind of relationship, Julie and Jason decide to have a child of their own, but date other people.

I'll be honest: I didn't expect a lot from this movie. Sure, it reunites four of the cast members from Bridesmaids (Kristen Wiig, Jon Hamm, Chris O'Dowd, Maya Rudolph), but still a movie with a plot like this (despite how clever it may be) can only go so far, which was the same thing with NSA and FWB. I left this film a little surprised, however. The film is an honest and funny look at relationships and even parenting. I wouldn't exactly classify it as a romantic comedy, until the second half of the film. That's where it slowly becomes a little cliched, but I could forgive that.

Earnest performances from its ensemble cast help keep the movie going forward. Westfeldt and Scott, the main couple, have a lot of chemistry to work with, despite the times where I felt Scott just came off as a poor man's Paul Rudd. Rudolph and O'Dowd are good as well as Wiig and Hamm. You don't see Hamm's character much in the film, but he has a chance to break out in a scene with all the couples having dinner. Megan Fox and Edward Burns have roles in here as well with Burns playing Kurt, the man Julie begins dating, and Fox playing Maryjane, the girl Jason begins dating. Both are good. They don't overdo anything in the roles that they're given, so that's pretty good in my opinion.

Speaking of the roles they're given, the woman behind creating those roles is Westfeldt, who makes her directorial debut with this film. You might know her for her breakthrough role in Kissing Jessica Stein, which she co-wrote. Otherwise, you might've seen her in episodes of Grey's Anatomy and 24. Like Kissing Jessica Stein and another film she wrote and starred in, Ira and Abby, the film has plenty of sharp, witty dialogue. It's also good to point out that this is the third film from Westfeldt that Marcelo Zarvos has composed. However here, he has help from the band The 88. If you watch Community, you'll know who they are.

It's hard not to be even a bit impressed with Friends with Kids. It takes a smart, funny, witty and honest look at parenting and relationships. Only question is with the friends with benefits trend going on (of course, that's been going on for a while, even before those two movies), will Friends with Kids start a whole new trend of relationships? If more people see the film, we'll see. But right now, I give the film *** (3 stars).