Review: What to Expect When You're Expecting

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What to Expect When You're Expecting

What to Expect When You're Expecting is the epitome of what's wrong with the romantic comedy genre. Sure, it's actually a mildly entertaining movie, but what makes it seem that way is the fact that it includes a few genuinely hilarious laughs in an otherwise stale plotted movie. Most of the hearty laughs come from supporting characters who don't have much to do with the story at all or are otherwise a subplot of a far less interesting storyline.

What to Expect When You're Expecting is far from the worst thing you'll ever see in theaters, but its cheap laughs might trick you into thinking you've seen a decent movie until you start really thinking about it.

If the film has a centralized story, it's that of Jules Baxter (Cameron Diaz), who hosts a TV show called Lose It and Weep and is currently a contestant on a celebrity dance-off show where she has been intimately involved with her dance partner. In what turned out to be the most elaborate "pregnancy nausea" gags, it's revealed that her and her partner have gotten pregnant.

The story then goes on to follow some of the people watching the dance show at home. There's food truck chef Rosie (Anna Kendrick) and her rival Marco (Chace Crawford); maternity store owner Wendy (Elizabeth Banks) and her husband Gary (Ben Falcone), who is the son of NASCAR legend Ramsey (Dennis Quaid) and his new wife Skyler (Brooklyn Decker); a woman who can't get pregnant and is seeking adoption, played by Jennifer Lopez; and of course the Dad Group comprising Chris Rock, Thomas Lennon, Rob Huebel and Amir Talai. Yeah, a lot of people I know.

What to Expect When You're Expecting certainly has a lot of flaws. Almost all the women depicted in the film are stereotypes of women who tend to control men, and this would serve to alienate the male audience watching the film. On the other hand, the moments where that doesn't happen will serve to touch on the nerves of feminists who don't believe that "the only thing a woman should do is get pregnant."

Despite all of the flaws, the movie does a decent amount right comedically. Elizabeth Banks is funny here and shows shades of her comedic chops from when she was on Scrubs. Anna Kendrick shows she was worthy of having been nominated for an Academy Award despite not being particularly challenged in any way.  The comedic standouts here though are the The Dad Group and Rebel Wilson, who should be familiar to fans of Bridesmaids.

It's inevitable that with a cast this large, some of What to Expect When You're Expecting would be entertaining, but those moments are far too fleeting to make for a worthwhile film. With just a few laughs, it's more worth your time to check out other films this great summer lineup has to offer.

Austin connections: Co-screenwriter Shauna Cross is a University of Texas at Austin grad who wrote about her experiences skating for the TXRD Rollergirls in the novel Derby Girl, which she adapted into the screenplay for Whip It.