After Baby Comes Love

I read someone on my Facebook Newsfeed write that after he saw "Friends With Kids," he describes Jennifer Wesfeldt, the writer and director of the movie, as a modern-day female Woody Allen, writing a story about present New York City with wit and intelligence. I had to think about that, since I did enjoy the film, and did enjoy the writing. And Woody Allen no longer does NYC-centric movies, so there really is an "opening" for that job. "Friends With Kids" is a rom-com, but not really, it's also a commentary on parenting, on friendship, on how relationships change between friends after all reach maturity. I thought in the beginning that it would be a story about how a group of people and their dynamics change after they have babies, and I still think that would be a good premise. But, two pals (Adam Scott and Jennifer Westfeldt) decide to have a baby without the complications of being in love with each other. I initially thought this was a gimmicky premise (I rolled my eyes) but you could never doubt great acting. Westfeldt and, especially, Scott are such good actors that you get on-board right away. Jon Hamm (Westfeldt's real-life husband) and Chris O'Dowd with Maya Rudolph and Kristin Wiig play their friends and the set-up and banter is so wonderful and natural that I wonder if these people are real close friends in real life. The story takes somewhat predictable twists and turns, and there is a great scene in a New Year's Eve dinner table that is touching and moving and funny and infuriating, but all so great. The last eighth of the movie seems a little forced, but by then this cast has already won you over (even Megan Fox was surprisingly effective) that it really won't matter anymore. i won't give Jennifer Westfeldt the title of the new Woody Allen just yet, but she is definitely a contender.