Friends With Kids

Column: The Word on Films | Date Published: Tuesday, 3 July 12 | Author: Melissa Wellham | 10 months, 3 weeks ago

Friends With Kids has been mis-marketed as a hilarious rom-com romp, in the vein of Bridesmaids (and the presence of Bridesmaids’ Jon Hamm and Kristen Wiig has been somewhat over-emphasised). The film is hilarious, yes. But more often it is very human: upsetting, messy, lovely and complicated.

Written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt – who also acts the female lead, Julie – the film follows a group of close-knit friends as they begin navigating the problem of adding children into the equation of their lives. Best friends Julie and Jason (Adam Scott), who observe that having children often kills a happy marriage, decide that they should have a kid together – but date other people.

To say that Friends With Kids entirely escapes from the conventions of the ‘baby rom com’ genre would be a lie – after all, there is a scene of a man changing a nappy, while covered in baby poop – but it mostly avoids clichés, and packages its uplifting life lessons with witty banter and genuine warmth. The ensemble cast turn in great performances, particularly Jon Hamm and Kristen Wiig as a struggling couple who are on the rocks; while Maya Rudolph and Chris O’Dowd show the more pleasant alternative.

Humour, romance, social relevance – the equation of Friends With Kids works.

P.S. Megan Fox is also in this film. But don’t let that put you off.

	Snow White And The Huntsman: Based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale, Snow White And The Huntsman is grim in more ways than one. It’s dark and edgy to be sure; but it’s also disappointing. I received a text message from a friend before I saw Snow White, which read nothing but “snow white = fail.” (I’m glad I was given this warning prior to watching the film, as I’d had high expectations.) It’s not a complete ‘fail’, but unfortunately, while this take on Snow White is darker and more complex than the original performance, it is undermined by bipolar performances from its stars, a poor script and problematic pacing. The film has no internal consistency and seems to be a pastiche of other stories that it’s trying to imitate: the love triangle from Twilight; the sweeping landscapes from Lord Of The Rings; the uncomfortable undertones of incest from Game Of Thrones (yep); and the modern musings, but ultimately underdeveloped themes that deal with vanity, a-la the earlier Snow White production this year, Mirror Mirror. However, the set design, costumes, and cinematography all are ravishing. As is Chris Hemsworth, while I’m noting admiration of aesthetically pleasing things (and, er, objectifying the male form). There are enough glorious visuals to keep you looking at the screen, but not enough of the cerebral stuff to make this worth watching more than once.

	Prometheus: For fans of Alien and Blade Runner – those engaging, tense Ridley Scott sci-fi classics that taught us how to fear heartburn (because it might actually be an alien spawn) amongst other things – I’m going to do you a big favour. Prometheus is not one of those classics. In this slick thriller, Scott has traded atmosphere for pretty lights and big actors, and the baffling plot (with more holes than a cheese grater) only makes it all the more apparent what this film isn’t. It isn’t as good as Alien, it isn’t even good sci-fi – in fact, it’s annoying. And stupid. And horrifying in parts, but not in the good way. In short, a group of scientists (with varying degrees of balls) head into space on a mission, and in the end everyone starts questioning human existence and toying around with penis-shaped aliens, or trying to kill each other/screw each other over. And Fassbender plays a robot. This is a straight-up blockbuster, so don’t expect any more, but feel free to expect less – you might even end up enjoying this film for what it does manage to offer, which is decent acting and some scares. At the end of Prometheus, I was left with many questions. How could I get a refund? Why would anyone think a sequel was a good idea? [Ed: ahem, prequel.] What was the last film that disappointed me this much?