Friends with Kids

Jennifer Westfeldt, the writer and star of Kissing Jessica Stein and Ira & Abby, makes her directorial debut with this witty and insightful film that uses the conventional rom-com formula to tell an unconventional story about modern attitudes towards parenting. There will be many negative comparisons made between this film and Bridesmaids, due to their close release dates, female authorship, and shared cast members, but Friends With Kids is much more like a Nicole Holofcener movie in that it strives for an urban, Woody-Allen-esque sophistication more than the Judd-Apatow-comedy-of-embarrassment-and-buddy-bonding of Bridesmaids.

I dare say most people will not like this film. The very premiss--about the last two childless singles in a group of upscale New York professionals who decide they want to raise a kid together without giving up their romantic and sexual freedom--will automatically put off people who would resent anyone attempting this (or succeeding at it) in real life. It will also not be popular with those who like their comedies to be either utterly realistic or over-the-top absurd, rather then right in the middle where I think they belong.

It is true that these characters are sometimes difficult to relate to, root for, or even like. This is a common problem in all of Westfeldt’s movies.  Her brand of quirky, anxious neurotics aren't as entertaining as Woody Allen’s or Nicole Holofcener’s (and I know many people find those characters annoying). However, there is enough humor, warmth and truth in these people to sustain the picture and enable it to make its points.

The cast is strong across the board; some are great, like Westfeldt’s real-life partner and the film’s co-producer Jon Hamm, and some are less great, like Megan Fox (though this is her best work to date in a film). As the leads, Westfeldt and Adam Scott are fun and in the few places where the script feels too on-the-nose or begins to drift too far into sit-com shtick, the integrity of the performances gets the picture back on track. They are also both very attractive but with enough flaws to make the situation and events feel rom-com credible.