DVD--The Back-Up Plan

or: Predictability works for me...for once.

One word to sum it up: Sweet.

Sometimes you just have to be in the mood for a romantic comedy. I admit, after a day of learning how to sell all types of lotto tickets (in an hour), cleaning shelves, and making sure every DVD in Blockbuster was in alphabetical order and in the right category (I think at one stage I found Fight Club in the family section under 'R', hmmmmm), a predictable rom-com like The Back-Up Plan sounds like just about enough for one night. Oh, and I was watching this while straightening my hair too. So rom-coms are good for something...multi-tasking.

Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) is a successful woman who has reached that point in her life when she really wants a baby. Unable to find 'the one', she goes off to concieve twins through artificial insemination. But life, which never goes to plan, does a very funny thing to Zoe. She meets the man of her dreams, Stan (Alex O'Loughlin), the same day. They strike up a relationship, even though Zoe is already going to have twins...before they are married or anything.

Please don't shoot me down because I actually enjoyed it. Okay, so it wasn't fantastic, and suffers from the same kinds of problems that all rom-coms drag around with them. But The Back-Up Plan took on a very funny storyline, and managed to win it over. It managed to actually have some really funny bits, which somehow covered up about 53% of it's cliches and 48% of it's flaws. Sure, it hasn't changed the way rom-coms work, as it only just gets itself a bit higher than the other efforts we have see lately, but I could actually enjoy it...for once.

Jennifer Lopez puts on a smile and a big belly and believably pulls of the desperate mother-to-be. Alex O'Loughlin is the nice guy who has that quirkyness about him. Both fairly standard characters, nothing much to feel excited about. I'm pretty sure that every woman who has been pregnant will probably get a real kick out of this...because they could probably relate to the cravings, pillows and pram-buying a lot more than I can. This is really just a good movie to kick back and relax to...doesn't demand too much attention, but all-round is a sorta satisfying experience. Just depends on which way you look at it.


THE VERDICT: Doesn't offer anything more to the rom-com genre, but srely doesn't come up with anything less, The Back-Up Plan is an easy and predictable movie, which is good for a girls night in.

6/10