Product Description
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Friends With Kids is a daring and poignant ensemble
comedy about a close-knit circle of friends at that moment in
life when children arrive and everything changes. The last two
singles in the group observe the effect that kids have had on
their friends' relationships and wonder if there's a better way.
They decide to have a kid together - and date other people. There
are big laughs and unexpected emotional truths as this
unconventional 'experiment' leads everyone in the group to
question the nature of friendship, family and, finally, true
love.
.com
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H an agreeable ride on the long coattails (or
maybe gown trains) of Bridesmaids, Friends with Kids isn't in the
same category of grown-up raunch, but it does occupy a similar
realm of grown-up comedy about the contemporary late-30s crowd
facing serious relationship issues with intelligence and omb.
It's also a stroke of good fortune that Friends with Kids
features a hefty portion of the same cast that made Bridesmaids
such a hit. The stars of Friends with Kids are Jennifer Westfeldt
(who also wrote and directed) and Adam Scott as Julie and Jason,
BFFs who are strictly platonic but decide to have a child
together out of mutual need, convenience, and familiarity. Their
married friends have all brought kids into the world with mixed
results, and they feel a little left out. Neither wants the
burden of marriage and both profess to have no romantic
inclination toward the other, even though it's pretty clear from
the first scenes that the script is heading for a very
predictable romantic conclusion. That's no spoiler, and it's also
no sappy or formulaic rom-com equation. Julie and Jason make a
successful go of co-raising their adorable little boy, sharing
care and feeding duties from the safety of their individual
upscale New York apartments that are on different floors of the
same building. Concurrently with their parenting, each one is
also playing the same old dating game that ranges from simple
hookups to what looks like true love when Julie meets Kurt
(Edward Burns) and Jason meets Mary Jane (Megan Fox). That's when
the emotions start getting complicated and both realize that they
may not have thought through their child-rearing plan or their
honest feelings for each other thoroughly enough. Their married
friends Ben and Missy and Alex and Leslie are played by Jon Hamm,
Kristen Wiig, Chris O'Dowd, and Maya Rudolph, who were part of
the outstanding core cast of Bridesmaids. The entire ensemble in
Friends with Kids is also pretty terrific in conveying a sense of
how life and relationships change with time (and with kids). Alex
and Leslie become stronger because of kids, Ben and Missy are
torn apart, and Julie and Jason fall somewhere in between.
Westfeldt's script and direction give a fairly New York-centric
view of dating and relationships, which may grate on some
people's nerves (movie New Yorkers can often seem like
stereotypical snooty jerks). The movie doesn't always come across
as unique from a stylistic perspective, and Westfeldt often steps
into Woody Allen territory in her portrayal of New York neuroses.
But she also brings her own gracefully original touch to the
unfolding emotions. The dialogue is sharp and the comic sheen
often belies a genuinely moving dramatic core. Even if it's
sometimes hard to relate to these privileged, beautiful New York
people whose only problems stem from their love life, Friends
with Kids carries an honest heart of humor and modern romantic
clout. --Ted Fry