Available on DVD/Blu_ray/Digital Download Combo Pack as of February 8th
Two single adults become caregivers to an orphaned baby girl when their mutual best friends die in an accident.
Ever since I first saw her in ‘My Father, the Hero’ opposite Gerard Depardieu and Dalton James, I have always liked Katherine Heigl. She has that funny, friendly ‘girl next door’ charm that, to me, gives her an edge over the likes of Jennifer Anniston in romantic comedy movies . I just find Heigl more endearing. Which is one of the reasons why I was looking forwarded to watching the DVD release of ‘Life As We Know It’ since I didn’t get a chance to it in the theaters.
‘Life As We Know It’, which also stars Josh Duhamel, is the story of Holly and Messer, two totally opposite people who came away disliking each other after one disastrous first date and must now put aside their dislike for each other to take care of their orphaned baby god-daughter, Sophie.
Molly (Katherine Heigl) is your typical childless, single young woman with a busy, structured lifestyle. Messer(Josh Duhamel), is a stereotypical playboy bachelor. Of course, as is the way of these kinds of romantic comedies, their world is turned upside down when they find out they have both been appointed as one of the guardians for little Sophie after the the death of her parents.
I’m glad I finally got a chance to see ‘Life As We Know It’. Even though I thought it moved a bit too slowly in several places I felt that Katherine Heigl brought a warmth to the role of Molly as well as a believable sense of a woman overwhelmed with a new and unfamiliar responsibility. One of the special features on The Blu-Ray disc contains an insightful look into how Katherine Heigl approached the role of a character with a sudden status as ‘overnight mother’.
Josh Duhamel has never been an actor who seemed very memorable to me, I am always confusing him with someone else. However, I think he gave a very credible turn in the role of Messer. His banter/argumentative scenes with Katherine Heigl have a crisp sense of timing to them. This in turn, helps create the chemistry of two people you just know are going to end up falling in love with each other.
I’m not a big ‘chick flick’ kind of viewer. I don’t usually get all soft and gooey over stories about cute babies. That said, I have to admit that it is Sophie, or more to the point, the triples who play her that not only steal the hearts of Holly and Messer, but of the movie audience as well.
The Blu-ray disc in this combo pack contains a charmingly sweet special feature on how Josh Duhamel approached working with the three little ones who were given the role of Sophie. Get out your hankies cause it will have you sniffling and going ‘aww’.
All in all, Life As We Know It is an affable and fun parable about the responsibilities of sudden parenthood and being able to set aside differences to show love to a child. It’s nice flick for anyone in the mood for a romantic comedy. Check out the official movie site.
B – For overall movie enjoyment
C- for the fact that all the extras are only on the Blu-Ray disc
Final rating – B-