Life as We Know It

Plot synopsis:
Holly Berenson (Katherine Heigl) is the owner of a small Atlanta bakery, and Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel), (often just known as "Messer") is a promising television technical sports director for the Atlanta Hawks. Their best friends Peter (Hayes MacArthur), an attorney, and Alison Novak (Christina Hendricks) set them up on a blind date that goes horribly wrong, and results in both hating each other. As the years go by, Peter and Alison get married, and have a baby girl named Sophie Christina, and select Holly and Eric as godparents of Sophie. They have become friends, but still tease and banter with each other.
Shortly after Sophie's first birthday, Peter and Alison are killed in a car crash. Holly and Messer learn that in their friends' wills, they were named Sophie's joint guardians. Holly and Messer must put their differences aside and move into Sophie's home to care for her. Living together proves to be a struggle. One night, Holly leaves Sophie with Messer while she covers an important catering job - the same night that he is given the opportunity to direct a big basketball game. Messer takes Sophie to the game, but she constantly distracts him with her crying. When they get home, Messer and Holly argue, but later they make up.
Holly meets Sam (Josh Lucas), Sophie's pediatrician, and finds herself attracted to him. They arrange a date, which is cut short when Messer calls to tell Sam that Sophie has a high fever. Sam and Holly go to the hospital, and Messer sees Holly kiss Sam.
As the two guardians continue to care for Sophie, they discover that raising a child is much more expensive than they had expected, and Holly can no longer afford to implement her plans to expand her business. Messer offers to invest in her company, and eventually Holly agrees. To cement the new relationship, they decide to go on a date. They end up having sex and begin to develop feelings for each other. Their Child Protective Services caseworker, who has previously advised them against getting involved, tells them they must make a firm commitment either to stay together, or break up. Anything in between would be bad for Sophie. Messer is offered a job in Phoenix, Arizona, and he seriously considers taking it up, as it has been his dream for several years, but doesn't discuss it with Holly. Holly is upset when she finds out and tells him to take the job, accusing him of looking for a way out of raising Sophie. Messer goes to Phoenix.
At Thanksgiving Messer returns to Atlanta, hoping to patch things up with Holly (who is hosting a big dinner for neighbors and friends), but finds her in a relationship with Sam. Messer and Holly argue, because Sam mentions Holly is planning to sell the house soon, since it is too expensive to keep up. Messer insists it was Peter and Alison's wish that Sophie be raised in their home, by them together. Holly consistently accuses Messer of deserting her and Sophie, while Messer points out how quickly she replaced him. Messer tells her he loves her, but leaves the dinner, planning to return to Phoenix. Once alone with Holly, Sam says that if he and his ex-wife had fought in the way that Messer and Holly did, they would still be together. He tells Holly it is obvious she needs to work out her feelings for Messer, and leaves.
The caseworker comes for the last appointment to determine whether Holly and Messer are fit parents for Sophie. Holly realizes that she can't take care of Sophie without Messer, and that she loves him. She and Sophie drive to the airport with the caseworker. Holly rushes to buy tickets for all three of them to gain access to the departure gate, but on arriving at the gate, finds that they have missed Messer's flight, which has departed. She returns to the house disappointed. To her surprise, she finds him sitting inside. He tells her he has realized that Peter and Alison chose them to be Sophie's guardians because, together, they are a family.
At Sophie's second birthday party, all the neighbors and friends in attendance. Holly has made an elaborate cupcake display for Sophie, as well as another cake with the number 1 on it. When Messer asks what the cake is for, she says, "It's for us, 'cause we made it a year." They kiss. The guests sing 'Happy Birthday' to Sophie.

Tags: dramatic, comedy, entertaining, romantic, sentimental

Review:
Katherine Heigl is a known, reliable entity who's graced many a movie, but the real discovery for me was Josh Duhamel who conveyed all of his feelings to me, another guy, extremely well in situations I've never really encountered, perhaps better and more agreeably than any other male lead I can think of.
3 years ago Josh Duhamel as Messer and Katherine Heigl as Holly have a set up date by their best friends Peter and Alison (Hayes MacArthur and Christina Hendricks) that terminates in Holly's Smart Car. Holly despises Messer way too much.
Having in common only their love for Sophie, Holly and Messer have their lives turned upside-down and need to support each other to keep the girl with them and honor the wishes of their best friends."Life as We Know It" is a pleasant romance, despite the tragedy and predictability of the story.
I usually like the films of the gorgeous Katherine Heigl and the practically unknown Josh Duhamel is hilarious in the role of a wolf.
Josh Duhamel and Katherine Heigl were good eye candy throughout the movie, and the baby (like most) was absolutely adorable.
Holly (Katherine Heigl) and Eric, known by his last name, Messer (Josh Duhamel) were once set up by close married friends, wife Alison (Christina Hendricks) and hubby Peter (Hayes MacArthur).
Life As We Know It Nowadays, it's commonplace for two people who don't love each other to raise their child in a hostile environment.Surprisingly, while the at odds couple in this rom-com are doing just that, they're doing so with someone else's kid.When they first meet on a blind date set-up by their mutual friends Peter and Alison (Christina Hendricks), uptight Holly (Katherine Heigl) and free-spirited Messer (Josh Duhamel) vow to never see each other again.But their common connection makes that impossible.
And when their friends are killed in a car accident, the pair must put aside their differences and assume custody of the couple's 1- year-old daughter and palatial home.With Katherine Heigl portraying another lovesick female browbeating a deadbeat male into submission, Life As We Know It is redundant.
I watched this movie because I quite like to watch romantic comedies and the plot seemed really interesting, but I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed by this movie.The beginning is good and it seems like something that could happen in real life, but later on the movie turns out to be unconvincing, for example the parts with the social worker are too crazy.I have to point out that the performance of the actors is good, they have good chemistry together and make the plot at least a bit believable.For me, this is just another ordinary romantic comedy (despite the tragic part), one of the movies that I struggled to watch till the end and I will definitely not watch it again..
To make a long story short, "Life as We Know It" lacks eroticism and chemistry, with the result that we cannot believe in the so-called love story involving Holly Berenson (Katherine Heigl) and Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel).
So essentially this movie suffers from two uninteresting characters, Eric and Holly, a boring baby, boring neighbours representing the usual stereotypes (example: the nerd marries a fat woman, who really wants to have sex with the muscular Eric, because he cannot hook up with the hot Russian girl from the Serebro band) and a boring plot.In other words, this movie is a non-romantic-non-comedy..
Thus lacking true wringing drama, the movie also fails on fall on the shoulder of a romantic comedy, as the chemistry between characters is non-existent throughout, while baby toilet humour is bound to fail as a saving grace..
Fixed up on a blind date by mutual friends, a bakery shop owner (Katherine Heigl) and a womanizing bachelor (Josh Duhamel) share an instant dislike; but, after their friends are suddenly killed in a car accident, the bickering un-sweethearts discover they've been awarded joint custody of the couple's infant daughter (along with their expansive two-story home--mortgage-free!).
'LIFE AS WE KNOW IT': Two Stars (Out of Five) Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel star in this rom com about two single unexpecting parents who inherit their dying friends baby daughter.
I don't think the lack of experience was really the problem here though, the writers and director delivered just what the studio wanted them to: another cheesy romantic comedy vehicle for Heigl.Heigl plays Holly, a bakery owner, and Duhamel plays Eric Messer, a TV sports director for the Atlanta Hawks.
Their friends have a baby that they're named the godparents to and when the couple dies in a car accident Holly and Eric find out that they're expected to live in their house together and take care of their child, at least until suitable parents can be found.
These are the words I would use to describe Life As We Know It, a new romantic comedy starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel.
I was thoroughly entertained during the movie, from the beginning set up of the main characters mutual disdain for each other through the end where we witness the completed circle of their roller coaster year at the little girl's second birthday.Of course we have the typical very attractive lead characters, chef/cafe owner Holly Berenson (Heigl) and sports TV technician Eric Messer (Duhamel).
Holly's love interest Dr. Sam (Josh Lucas) brings the typical complication to the romantic comedy genre, and of course the audience thinks he is a great guy, but we're always rooting for the unlikely outcome that perhaps doesn't have much basis in reality.Minor characters of the nosy friendly neighbor, a gay couple raising a child, the Child Protective Services worker and a couple of others bring some fresh humor to the mix, keeping the lead characters, as well as the audience on their toes.A truly memorable moment at this Tempe screening, was when I and the entire audience couldn't help but laugh when they put up a picture of Phoenix that was obviously a cut and paste job of several notable parts of the area, next to a sign saying "Phoenix, Downtown" just to make sure we knew where it was supposed to be!
And a couple great quotes like, "She's making the poop face", "Yes honey, I'm your mommy", and my personal favorite, "Having somebody help you doesn't mean you failed, it just means you're not in it alone." Movie was about 2 hours, which seemed a bit long for a comedy, but I was entertained enough to not notice the time.I give it 7/10 stars.
Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel are completely believable in their roles and you find yourself rooting for this "would be" family as they are thrown together following a tragic accident, attempting to adjust to their new responsibilities as caregivers to baby Sophie (who they both love)as well as adjusting to each other - something entirely different being as they despised each other previously.
¨They love Sophie more than anything in the entire world, and out of everyone, Messer, they picked us.¨ Life As We Know It is a very predictable romantic comedy, with uninteresting characters, and a script I felt a 15 year old could have written.
I am not a big fan of rom coms, since they seem to follow the same logic and clichés most films in this genre do, although there have been some pleasant surprises for me (500 Days of Summer, My Best Friend's Wedding, Love Actually, Notting Hill, and Definitely, Maybe are movies which other rom coms should try to measure up to).
Greg Berlanti (who is known for producing mostly TV series) directed this film and the screenplay was adapted from hundreds of other rom coms by Ian Deitchman and Kristis Rusk Robinson.The story takes place in Atlanta where a married couple is trying to hook up two of their best friends together on a blind date.
If you have seen any romantic comedy from Hollywood then you can probably guess what will happen in the next 90 minutes of the film.The movie is predictable, the secondary characters are one dimensional and you don't even care for any of them, and Heigl is once again playing the same role she plays over and over again.
Still the most likable character in the film is the baby, Sophie, and that isn't a very good sign in a movie like this.
Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel star as two people who hate each other - ever since a couple mutual friends arranged a blind date, which went horribly.
Throughout the film the viewer is able to enjoy not only the real-life story and profound feelings of the characters but also some funny moments which do enliven the whole production making it quite a good way to spend one's leisure time on a lazy Saturday night..
A Nutshell Review: Life as We Know It. The talk about town for this film revolves around a similar fiasco about how we in Singapore are so straight laced that we have to substitute "Shagged" with "Shioked" and now with this film, the poster which I thought was hilarious involving both Josh Duhamel and the kid in their respective diapers and bottles being chased after by Katherine Heigl, got removed and in place a rather creative shot from a first person baby's perspective of the two adults fussing over her, but well, you get the point.
Got it.Anyway Life as We Know It talks about how having a child is usually a planned affair, where a couple consciously knows about the trade off involving the loss of freedom, and a collective effort required by two (or probably more, depending on the help rendered from an extended family if any) to raise another human being to provide love and care and to instill good values and principles.
But to dump a baby onto someone else's lap is something irresponsible, but for reasons explained in the film, becomes the basic premise here.With the demise of their respective best friends, Holly Berenson (Ketherine Heigl) and Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel) become saddled with joint guardianship of their less than one year old Sophie (played by triplets Alexis, Brynn and Brooke Clagett) together with a house that has its mortgage paid for by itself.
While the premise may seem to be a little far-fetched, it does contain enough convenience in the story to ensure the child gets to where she's supposed to, with all the legal wrangling quickly passed over, and how other family members get logically and comically weeded out.Katherine Heigl continues to rake up a series of handsome co-stars in her string of romantic comedies, with the likes of Ashton Kutcher in Killers, Gerard Butler in The Ugly Truth, and James Marsden in 27 Dresses, and continues with her usual fine comic timing and stereotypical neurotic, control freak female character portrayals.
Romantic comedies work only if the leads are charming, and somehow Ian Deitchman and Kristin Rusk Robinson's story make no qualms about explicitly mentioning how hot Josh Duhamel's Messer is, and he literally drips machismo.But the scene stealer here hands down are young girls Alexis, Brynn and Brooke Clagett who rotate in their Sophie portrayal.
One can imagine the kind of patience and reshoots required with children on the set, and full marks go to effort in making these scenes a success, because if the child doesn't tug at anyone's heartstrings, it'll become a stretch for the two hotties in the film to want to give up their lives for her rather than to opt for easier alternatives.Predictable fare filled with caricatures are what make Hollywood romantic comedies tick, and this one is no different.
In this Heigl plays Holly Berenson, when Holly is setup on a blind date with Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel) by joint friends of theirs they find out its not going to quite work out between the two of them for the lack of not being to stand each other.
"Life as we know it" is pretty much a predictable insipid film about two successful people having to raise a baby under one roof.There was nothing interesting about their lives other that the constant bickering which arises just for amusement.
It turned out to be a solid, sweet romantic comedy following the ups and downs of parenthood with some real laugh-out-loud moments.My mother and I decided to go because we usually like Katherine Heigl and we weren't disappointed.
It's been done before and by better comedians.Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel are reasonable romantic leads but this movie desperately needs a real comedian as one of the leads to do the jokes.
Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel use on screen chemistry to make this quite original storyline work in a pleasing way, even if at times the film always follows the signposts without ever hinting that it may surprise you.
Duhamel and Heigl played 2 likable characters that have their lives turned upside down when their best friends die and they leave them as guardians to their young daughter, Sophie.
as far as romantic comedies go this one wasn't too bad.i chuckled here and there,and there's one scene which i found hysterical.there are some dramatic moments that also work well.the two leads,Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel have great chemistry and are both convincing in their roles.i thought the premise was an interesting and original one.the situations that arose came off as being realistic and could probably happen in reality.the movie has it's predictable moments,but because the characters are likable,believable and sympathetic,that didn't matter all that much.both Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel showed they have some range during the more serious moments of the film,and both are good at the comedic bits as well.for me,Life as We Know It is a 7/10.
LIFE AS WE KNOW IT is a romantic comedy drama about two single adults named Eric Messer(Josh Duhmel)& Holly(Katherine Heigl) who were set up to go on a date in 2007 but their date back fired.Flash forward a few years later and their best friends had a baby girl named Sophie and they have to look after the tot as her parents died in a freak car accident.
That's Rom Com's for ya they are so predicable you don't even have to buy the DVD or watch the movie to see what is going to happen.The story was nice yet very predictable,the actors were great I saw Katherine Heigl in 27 Dresses and I thought she was OK not the best actress in the world but still this film is worth watching.I'll give it a 7/10 (3 stars).
Both of the Josh's are certainly eye candy for us girls, and it's more than just their looks - it's in their facial expressions; the way they allow us to see inside the character they are portraying, so we fall a little bit in love with their sensitivity and their humour for a while.As for Katherine Heigl, this is another of her memorable roles - right up there with "27 Dresses" and "The Ugly Truth"; in fact, this one has now become my favourite, because of the added dimension this role required of her.I've never cried so much in a movie before, but mine were as much tears of happiness (brought on by the baby's antics, expressions, and development) as they were about the story's sad undercurrent.The comedy, drama, and romance of "Life As We Know It" had me at 'hello'.
You've seen this type of film too many times, like Three Men and a Baby(1987), and Raising Helen(2004), people living the good life, forced to it on hold, when a child has to come live with them, and there not ready to be parents, you get the drift.The story of people who don't like each other too much, Holly(Katherine Heigal), who runs a Delicatisen, and is shy about relationships.
Okay, so Life as We Know It is a rom-com with some drama thrown in as it concerns two people on a blind date that turns disastrous the moment they meet but they can't get away from each other since each is a friend of one of a married couple that just had a baby.
Everybody knows the two main characters will eventually fall in love...that is obvious...it's the ride getting there that is funny, delightful, and very touching at moments.The film has a very classic movie feel about it.
I am curious to see if anything like this would happen in real life, with 2 friends who do not know each other well would raise a baby together for the sake of the child.
Add some icky music and songs throughout, suspend all believability, and it's life as Hollywood knows it.Katherine Heigl proves in this film that she should have stayed on TV, because she is not a movie star.
The result as a whole is a nice film with a charming couple as lead actors.It goes to tell us the story of Eric (Josh Duhamel) and Holly (Katherine Heigl), two people with nothing in common united by their friends who made a surprising bond that they should raise their orphaned baby in case of their death, which eventually happens.
It works because Duhamel and Heigl have an amazing chemistry despite some bad jokes here and there, both in drama and in comedy scenes; the story goes okay and has things we can all enjoy if we're not too much demanding.
If the movie gets into a more dramatic level at many times, the comedy helps a little when these two are trying to do whatever to make the baby sleep or get calm (and that includes improvising a funny song or sings Radiohead's 'Creep' to make her sleep), a taxi driver (Faizon Love) friend of Eric hired as nanny while he's at work, and some nice moments between Holly and a doctor (Josh Lucas) that becomes her love interest.
Sure this movie is formulaic with the familiar characters we've seen in this genre, "Life as We Know It" is a nice little comedy that is not memorable, but a fun film to watch on a rainy day.