diaphenia | Friends with Kids: some thoughts

As the last person to see the movie (besides

stillscape) I am sure we're all talked out on it, but let's take a few minutes and get back to it.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I mean, Adam Scott. How are you a person? How do you look so awesome in t-shirts? How could anyone believe your nose is a bad thing? Sigh I don't really think I'm that obsessed with him, really, but he was great. I liked Adam Scott; I liked his character less. Now, they tried their hardest to win me over, from the opening scene's close up o The God Delusio to his impassioned speech that tossed in a 'organized religion is crap.' But he comes across as pretty sleazy when it comes to women.

But probably still better than Julie, who's annoyingly passive for most of the movie. And this is awful, but I had a difficult time with Jennifer Westfeldt, or more specifically, her voice. I'm not sure I've ever seen her in anything else, but I'm disinclined to do so; her voice annoyed me. I don't know if that's her natural voice or a character choice, but I spent most of the movie wanting her to speak louder and deeper. I do covet her hair; it's luscious and beautiful, and I want to touch it.

If I had one wish, I wanted to see more of the Bridesmaids remixed couples. I feel like those four had some interesting stories and I wanted the cameras to follow them home.

Here's the issue I had with the movie: I don't buy it.

Caveat: I'm in my mid-20s, and I don't have kids. I don't want kids. I'm pretty happy with my potted palm tree.

The premise of the movie seems to be that having children makes you awful. I could buy that. I mean, to be fair, my friends haven't had kids yet, though there's one on the cusp, so who knows if children make adults awful? But I could believe it. Or at least I could believe Westfeldt, who has no children herself, could buy it, though if I were Adam Scott or Maya Rudolph I might have some things to say on that topic. But it' so weir to me that Jason and Julie could look at their friends turning awful and decide that the problem is being in a relationship with your co-parent.

And then the idea that five months into Joe's life they are making quiches? I call shenanigans. Even if they are parenting part-time, even if they have a nanny, I just don't buy that it's smooth sailing. Again, my friends haven't had a baby yet, but I don't know any parents who make quiches.

I think they might have drugged that kid. Way too well-behaved, apparently the easiest child in the world.

The other thing that really confused me was MJ. Let's be clear: I liked her more than Julie, if for no other reason than that she knew what she wanted- at least with her career- and went to get it. But here's the thing- if MJ was so anti-child, why was she dating an older man with a brand new baby? Did she want a lasting relationship with Jason, and if she did, what was her plans in regards to Joe over the long haul? When I say I don't want kids, I mean it. I don't want to parent someone else's child either, which is why I would never date someone with a young child (in a decade or two I can picture myself dating someone with grown children). Why did she keep dating him? Would she have agreed to be a stepparent to a child we never saw her interact with?

On some level I agreed with Jon Hamm's character when he argued that they should have thought this through. Had they not had their necessary rom-com ending, they would have had only a gentlemen's agreement regarding their child. She moves? He apparently can't do anything about it. It's a strange plan, and I don't... is this really something people do? Because they shouldn't.

I sound harsh, here, and I did like it and I'll probably go see it again in theaters, because I'm a childless person with disposable income and I want to see it again. But the premise is so insane I just don't understand how adults with children agreed to film it.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

I love love love Chris O'Dowd but his accent annoyed me. He's Irish going for a Brooklyn accent? It wasn't working. He faltered.
And there was something else I was going to bring up the other day and I forgot! Hopefully, it comes back.

I'm reading these comments trying to see where I fall in with all the reactions. This 'suddenly deemed worth' thing is something I couldn't put my finger on before I read it here, and it's what bothered me the most about the movie, even more than Jason and Julie's selfishness in the face of bringing a child into the world...

I remembered!

At the beginning when they enter the elevator, Adam makes a comment about feeling inadequate because of her height and then when she dresses to have dinner with him and tell him how he feels she puts on the flat boots instead of the high heels. I don't know if there's a question there, other than what are your thoughts about that little action of hers?

That's definitely true about having to have compatible lives. It seems like such a stretch that someone that doesn't want to raise even their OWN kids, would raise someone else's. The only movie I can really think of that deals with the topic from MJ's perspective is... Stepmom? Hahahaha and that's probably not a great basis for comparison.

I definitely need to re-watch AWG, but I do think it's a wonderful movie. Incredibly heartwarming, in that at its core it's about different types of parents, who all have their own idea of what constitutes family, and how to be good parents to their children. It was for me, and the few people I've watched it with, far more laugh-out-loud than FWK was, which is funny considering FWK was a 'comedy' and I think Away We Go has a lot of lovely introspective moments as well. I think the subject matter kind of demands it though... even Knocked up, the mainstream 'original' of unconventional parenting movies had some deeper moments with the characters discussing what they really wanted.
It just goes a lot deeper into similar material, and in a much sweeter way, where you completely understand the motivations of both characters. I hadn't actually seen Maya in anything before I watched it, and had no idea who she was (being Australian and not really knowing about SNL apart from the one episode hosted by Zac Efron) and I pretty much watched it for John Krasinski, and was so taken by it and wonderfully surprised, and it's just a movie that leaves you with such a good feeling about love, and you really believe that these two people will be great parents. And that was definitely missing from FWK. FWK seemed more concerned with romance, and JW's belief that having kids makes relationships harder, or unsexy, and she seemed to prefer hot DINK* life. I think you'd like it though and this unfortunate Parks hiatus seems to demand you watch it immediately!

I'm actually really excited to watch it again now. It's definitely just my opinion though, but I'd love to hear what you think, and if it really is better than Friends With Kids (I really hope so).

*Not sure if DINK is a universal acronym, it stands for double income, no kids.

Sorrryyy, that was longer than I intended.

Sorry, butting in, but I thought that was kind of weird too. Like, they spent the whole movie telling us that he was too short for her, and her boobs weren't big enough for him, and when they tried having sex it was awkward and weird, and then at the end, they were suddenly sexually attracted to each other? Or, sexual attraction didn't matter because they 'loved' each other? I mean, you can definitely love someone, but I think that if the chemistry isn't there... it isn't there. And somehow it either suddenly appeared, orrrr they decided it didn't matter? I was confused about that. He was insecure about his height, she was insecure about her boobs... i would think those two insecurities would maybe come back to haunt them in their relationship. After the other person didn't feel sexually attracted to you for so long, and then suddenly they do, it just seems like something they'd both be unsure about for a while after.
And even dropping those weird proclivities, to just enter into a sexual, life-long relationship based on having a child together and being best friends? That part confused me too.

Although, I probably would've been more annoyed if a romantic comedy had ended without the two leads getting together. I always have to turn off My Best Friend's Wedding and pretend George becomes straight.

Great observation!

I mean, it speaks to the fact that fundamentally, he's insecure about his height, to the point where she changes her clothes for him. Meanwhile, he's still going on about how he shouldn't have to breathe the same air as a flat chested woman... It speaks to a real sense of empathy in her and a lack of it in him.

I bet he didn't notice, but I do wonder what would have happened if she, say, stuffed her bra for him.

I feel like they could have done a lot more with Megan Fox's character. Part of the problem, of course, is that she's the Other, so of course she's not going to get developed. But part of the problem is Jason barely sees her as worthy of a defined personality, and so all we get from him is soul mate but mostly sex toy. Which is terrible.

I mean, I'll probably see it again in theaters because Giant Adam Scott. But, you know. It wasn't anything that I hoped for.

I'll have to see if I can get my hands on that movie.

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Friends with Kids: some thoughts

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