What to Expect When You're Expecting

This film is about several couples who are expecting babies. They run into various troubles and emotional rollercoasters while preparing themselves for parenthood.

"What to Expect When You're Expecting" is a lighthearted comedy that makes you laugh, just like what is advertised. Of course, the way to parenthood is not just happy and joyful, so the film also realistically portrays the unglamorous side of expecting mothers. Some of these are presented as crude toilet humour, while others are presented as emotional rollercoasters that will touch your heart. I like the fact that characters in "What to Expect When You're Expecting" do not have a smooth breezy path, but face adversity like in real life. It is an interesting comedy for expecting mothers.

Honestly, the reason for seeing this movie was nothing more and nothing less than the desire to go to the cinema with a friend. With some other movies not interesting her, it was between The Lucky Ones and this one, both movies that have a low score on IMDb. I was pleasantly surprised, however, with not just the actors in the movie but also with the dialogue and chemistry on screen, which seemed very natural. I definitely enjoyed watching it and will most likely end up buying it on DVD; not even the fact that Chris Rock was in it bothered me, whereas I usually can't stand him. I have to applaud Jennifer Lopez too, I never thought much of her as an actress, but I found myself sympathizing with her and liking her portrayal of the character. Over all, I find that this movie deserves a higher score than it's currently got on IMDb.

You know what I expect? I expect better movies! "What to Expect When You're Expecting" is once again another ensemble rom-com that's basically just a bunch of short stories glued together in a full-length motion picture. You know, with a cast like this, this movie would have been better off with a title like "What to Expect When You're 'Selling Out'". I wouldn't say that this movie was "god-awful", I suppose that maybe a married couple might enjoy something here, but this is still an unoriginal, predictable, and unmemorable piece of "nothing". Director Kirk Jones has provided to give us a giant predictable "sell-out" that does nothing but go with the usual clichés. In movies like this, we usually get a bunch of individual stories packed in one movie, some that we care about, and some that we don't care about. Each story talks about a group of couples who are about to either have a baby, adopt a baby, or deciding whether to have the baby or not. We've seen these stories plenty of times before, so there's already a clue for the audience to know what will happen next. There are some chuckle-inducing moments, and I cared for a few story lines, but it's just a shame because there are so many likable actors in this movie, so this might be considered as a waste of talent. Cameron Diaz plays a weight loss contestant on a reality show who's expecting a newborn with Matthew Morrison, Jennifer Lopez takes the "Angelina Jolie" perspective to adopt an African baby, Elizabeth Banks plays a pregnant woman with tons of anxiety problems on the torture of pregnancy, and what do you know, Chris Rock is actually the leader of a group of "baby daddies". These story lines are probably careless, and mostly not funny, if you ask me! The only two story lines I actually enjoyed involves Anna Kendrick as a young woman who is expecting a baby after a certain one-night stand, and Dennis Quaid as a NASCAR legend who's expecting a new baby with his much younger, and ridiculously hot wife, played by Brooklyn Decker. I actually need to score this movie some points for that! But either way, I wasn't surprised! This movie is exactly what everyone thought it was going to be, so I guess I can say I'm not really that upset with this movie. But "What to Expect When You're Expecting" is not worth watching in any way, but if you're the type of person who enjoys these type of movies, my advice to you...wait for rental! I didn't expect that remark to pop out of my mouth. "What to Expect When You're Expecting", in my review, "predictable and mediocre, but overall unimpressive".

I was expecting to come away with a sassy name for this new genre, the Hollywood-ensemble rom-com, but there was nothing clever to provide any inspiration in "What to Expect When You're Expecting". The best line that I have heard to describe this comes from a fellow IMDb user, gregeichelberger, "It's "New Year's Eve" in the neo-natal unit; "Valentine's Day" with a uterus; "Knocked Up" times five." That sums up the whole thing perfectly.

The Hollywood ensemble is this frustrating trend to load the movie with as many stars as possible, so you have only floating heads and no actual characters. Surprisingly, one of the worst offenders is the similarly-themed indie dramedy "Conception" (2010) where we get to follow 9 (yes, 9!) different couples. This movie isn't as bad, there are only 5 main couples.

The intertwining of them is very limited. The four other girls basically all watch Jules (Cameron Diaz) on her reality TV shows. The timing, on the other hand, is all in sync. They get pregnant at the same time, start showing at the same time, and give birth at the same time. The point is of course that you don't know what to expect since each girl's pregnancy is different and experiences it differently.

Jules is going to control it – whether her partner tags along or not; Holly (Jennifer Lopez) is going to lie her way through adoption if that's what it takes; Wendy (Elizabeth Banks) wants the joy but gets the worst; Skyler (Brooklyn Decker) is going to make it perfect, just like herself; Rosie (Anna Kendrick) doesn't know what she's going to do. If the movie had left it at that, it would have been cute, romantic, funny and heartfelt, and possibly empowering.

But then they introduced "the dude pack" which is even worse than it sounds. They are a group of fathers, led by Chris Rock, who are given the stupidest sounding lines to try and make funny. It was painful how unfunny it was. Imagine if you will, a Hollywood writer being paid to come up with never-before-said lines to turn into popular catch-phrases. The way "Horrible Bosses" was almost successful (but ultimately not) with Sudeikis' "I would like to bend her over a barrel and show her the fifty states". That was exactly the case with the "comedy" in this movie. All of their lines were met with a few unimpressed question marks on faces but never any laughs.

However, the mothers-to-be were pretty good. Some were on the boring side, but two were able to deliver enough humour and heart to almost make up for the entirety of "What to Expect When You're Expecting". I don't know what it is about Anna Kendrick but she makes my heart melt every time she's on the screen. Extremely cute, in a relatable kind of way, and able to hold our hearts, she was the one that got us through this movie. Elizabeth Banks was able to go as over-the-top as only pregnant movie heroines are allowed to and gave it her all to deliver the comedy of what not to expect. Of course, it wasn't quite enough because we do know exactly what to expect.

Well... don't expect much. The plot is thin, predictable and the movie is simply not funny. My girlfriend roped me in -- so I went. The cast was likable... but everything else about the movie I couldn't bear. That said, this is a sure fire girl film that your lady love... especially if she has baby on her mind. The cast is very easy on the eyes.. especially the gorgeous Brooklyn Decker who is certainly bound to a be a big star. Jennifer Lopez was not very good or funny. My favorite characters in the film were Chris Rock and Anna Kendrick who are always funny and spot on in their roles. Great date film... but GUYS, beware -- you are in for a tedious night.