Friends with Kids

Summary:  Julie and Jason are best friends.  They are both single.  Their group of friends consists of two sets of couples, both with kids.  They both want kids eventually, but don't want the romance to disappear in a relationship like it has with their friends.  So she and Jason decide to have a kid together and remain friends, splitting the duties.  So they have a son.  Their friends think they are crazy, but it seems to be working out.  Until they can't decide if they want to be more than friends.

OaTs:  Written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt, who also stars as Julie, this movie was a really great way to start off 2012 for me.  It was my kind of humor - dry and sarcastic.  I may be a little bias since I love the idea of a film written and directed by a woman, with interesting female characters.

The cast was fantastic.  When I heard Megan Fox was in it, I wrote it off without looking into what the film was about.  Then I found out Westfeldt wrote and directed it, so I thought twice.  And Megan Fox pleasantly surprised me.  She's not the world's greatest actress, but she isn't as bad as I thought she'd be.

It was also a little mini-Bridesmaids reunion with Krist Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd, and Jon Hamm.  I feel like these people must be friends in real life.  And I want to be friends with them.

I am also getting more and more interested in alternate families.  I came from a very normal family.  I find different dynamics interesting because I know nothing about them.  I'm also getting to the age where friends are getting married and close to having kids.  Though I'm not there myself, I can start to relate to characters like these.  

My feelings about children and being a parent are complicated, so I like the idea of people making it work for them, instead of trying to fit themselves into a mold they don't belong in.  Just because the world expects certain things, doesn't mean that you have to fulfill these expectations.

Anyway, that got a little deep.  But I like when films are entertaining first and thought-provoking second.  I laughed a lot, and came close to crying a couple times.  And as I have said before, if you can make me laugh AND make me cry, then you've got me.  Not a perfect film, but an entertaining one.  It also made me think, which I can appreciate.  There's nothing wrong with having a family a little different than the norm.  The ending was a happy ending, with a little bitterness included with the supporting characters.  Nicely done, Jennifer Westfeldt.

Score:  9/10

Finishing 2011

Since going to Sundance and moving to New York, I have lost track of this blog a little bit.  So I'm going to try and catch up.  I saw three more films in 2011 that I'd like to give small reviews of.  Small because I don't remember a whole lot.  None of them really stood out.

Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy:  I was really excited about this film, since my recent obsession with British television.  British made movies don't get a whole lot of playing time in the U.S., so when one catches on, I'm always grateful for the chance to see it.  I didn't like it as much as I thought I would.  I think I need to watch it again to catch everything.  I won't say I was lost, but I definitely didn't follow it after a certain point.  Gary Oldman was sublime.  Well deserved Oscar nomination.  Score:  7/10

The Descendants:  After Michael Clayton in 2007, I have become a George Clooney fan.  And I have to say, he let me down a bit in 2011.  The Ides of March was less than stellar, and I felt that The Descendants wasn't as good as it was played up to be.  He was great, and so were many of the other actors and actresses.  But I didn't really get what was so special.  I didn't understand why it stuck out to so many people.  I found the setting interesting.  You don't find many films set in Hawaii.  And it was well written.  I don't know why all of these strong components didn't add up for me.  Sometimes, I just don't connect.  Don't know why.  Score:  7/10

A Dangerous Method:  I love all three main actors of this film:  Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightly, and Viggo Mortensen.  The acting was great.  And the characters interesting.  But again, I didn't feel a connection to it.  I wanted to.  And it was the first film I saw after moving to New York.  I'll probably always remember it for that.  I just wished I liked it more.  Maybe it's because I don't find psychology all that interesting.  It was about Freud and Jung, after all.  Score:  7/10

All of these films were ones I was expecting to like.  Maybe that was the problem.  Expectations get in the way sometimes.  I hate that.  Oh well.  On to 2012.