BFF & Baby

It's literally just watching nothing happen for an hour or two. The girl "friends" are all horrible to each other and the characters are completely uninteresting. I pretty much only wrote this to say to stay away from this movie.. It was terrible. And the worst bit of all was Rhys Coiro doing the most horrible "Australian" accent ever. As an Australian myself, he failed worse than abysmally. He sounded like a really odd Kiwi if anything. UGH. Cringeworthy. All of it. Don't bother.

source: BFF & Baby

We are making our way through the gauntlet. We have gone from funny pregnant teenager to funny new born mom. Kim (Krysten Ritter) and Deena (Kate Bosworth) are liberated college women. The next thing we know Kim has a son Max. The pair share a house with Laura (Rachel Bilson) who is proud of her virginity, but accepts jobs that pay well which make you question it. She was a great character for what little time she was on the screen. Marc (Rhys Coiro) the father of the child is also a surfer which allows him to leave the picture. The film works on the theme that having a baby is a "buzz kill." It is worse than the plague. In an early scene they drove the point home so much, it managed to bring the film down to where I didn't think it could recover to be a comedy again. Kristen Johnston plays Kim's flaky boss who is far from understanding. When Kim meets Nicholas (Geoff Stults) they have an attraction for each other. Kim lies to Nicholas about the baby, claiming it is Deena's, which later resulted in a funny barbed filled double date, the comedy highlight of the film. The plot is predictable and I don't think it would have worked any other way. Krysten Ritter looked exceedingly pale in this film, as a new born mom, i.e. a mom that just dropped the kid an hour ago. She kept that look for much of the film, perhaps to drive home the point. Justin Kirk plays an educated perv friend of Nicholas. He had a funny character that should have been used more. The film has some laughs and is a worth while date night rental. Parental Guide: F-bomb, sex? no nudity.

Strange film but I did enjoy. I actually went on a hunt for Kate Bosworth films 'cos like she's a pretty actress and I'm a sexist male so the two go together. A comedy centered on two best friends (plus another one not in the tag line) who fight to maintain normalcy in their lives after Kim gets pregnant and has a baby. So KB plays a gorgeous high maintenance bird, as one believes someone of her looks can achieve, and Krysten Ritter, dee one who gets preggers. KB (Deena) shags openly, loves sex and is kind of put upon as a friend to babysit for Max (dee baby) which she does, but she also has a life and and career. It's not her baby. KR, (Kim) does a great job of being generally flustered, goofy and weird, it's the writing of course. But... And here I have a jar with the film, because KR has absolutely know connection with the baby actor playing her son. None. Barely does she look at him, he's just something lugged around on her hips. The film itself plays on the hardships of a single mother, but jeez, their was like no chemistry between KR & the baby. In fact KB interacts more with the baby than the babies mother, look at the scene near the end credits. At first I thought this lack of bonding between mother and baby was going to form a plot point but nothing that interesting happened. Fairly formulaic film but enjoyable all the same, boy meets girl, both have secrets they don't discuss like people in the real world would, (oooh I have a baby, it's so bad. Gee I'm separated from my wife, ahhgh) They all lived happily ever after, probably, we'll never know, this isn't franchise material!

"Life Happens" is a tedious, unfunny comedy film about a young woman who has been stuck with motherhood because she loses an argument for the last condom in the box. Foolishly, she has sex anyway, leaving her with an adorable little tot, and leaving us stuck with her. She meets a dreamy hunk and lies about being childless. She has a falling out with her best friend over the latter's lack of total support for her situation. She gets in trouble with her boss for bringing her baby to work. And so on. There are countless real issues that plague single parents. After watching "Life Happens", I don't feel like I've seen any of them. The movie has a light-hearted treatment of its issue which feels better suited to a rom-com. The child is a prop who exists so that we can see Ritter carrying him awkwardly from place to place. The movie largely avoids any tender scenes between mother and baby. This would have been key to making the audience care about the protagonist, but the movie is more than happy to keep us at bay with lame sitcom dialogue and contrived situations. Eg.: Ritter has lied that her friend, played by Kate Bosworth, is really her son's mother, so of course there is a scene where they are together with the person she has lied to and have to keep the charade going, even though Bosworth isn't keen on the idea, and they both start passive aggressively insulting each other by insulting themselves. Was there ever a sitcom which didn't use this situation? The movie does have one scene that showed me something I hadn't seen before. Ritter is in bed with a guy who gropes her (unseen) breasts, and gets a spray of milk in the face.

Kim (Krysten Ritter) and Deena (Kate Bosworth) were party girls, but Kim is now a single mom. The surfer douche dad is leaving town, and she's spinning her wheels. She dreams of starting a doggy mall, and just wants to have a little bit fun. Their roommate is the over-sexualized religious virgin Laura (Rachel Bilson). I like all three ladies in this movie. They just don't have enough funny written jokes. Kat Coiro has professional directing skills for a novice. It's the lack of joke writing skills from Kat Coiro and Krysten Ritter that is problematic. It's as if they expect the premise to be good enough to make the audience laugh. Rachel Bilson's character is kinda funny, but she's just one joke. Kim and Deena have some chemistry but never really takes off as a comedic duo. And then there's the unnatural ending all perfectly wrapped up.

Sometimes you need a movie that just winds around pretty clothes, successful dreams and friends who sometimes let you down by mistake. But this is no 'Clueless. The script actually presumes you may understand Shakespeare jokes and have reached a certain age when you step up and make a success of yourself. The fun female leads don't do clappy hands and girly shrieks when they talk about guys. Krysten Ritter and Kate Bosworth bring thoughtful performances with a well balanced and light comedic touch. The movie harks back into the delightful froth of the forties where a comedy of errors always leads couples astray. Share a comfortable laugh at grown-up share housing, accidental baby dating woes and absolutely no Mall visits.

Movie starts comedy and sexy, but the last half turns into depressing, awkward, unrealistic, tragedy. Ritter's acting is great. (Rachel Bilson playing a 29yo virgin was the best acting I've ever seen.) Directed well, but lack-luster writing. Ritter's worst project.

Life Happens was a last minute choice on Netflix after my wife I desperately looked for something to watch. I wasn't much looking forward to it even though I enjoy the three women in the lead. Well I eat my hesitation because Life Happens was wonderful. It's a dark comedy, some great chemistry in the cast and some definitive emotional moments. The film isn't without its faults. It definitely is low budget and some of the writing is a little rushed and they could have developed some of the supporting characters more and I even think the drama/comedy balance is just a tad off at times. I guess when I think Krysten Ritter I mostly think of comedy but that isn't to say she doesn't absolutely nail this dramatic role. I guess the only negative I have to say about the film is that I felt there could be more to it and that isn't much negative at all. It is a fantastic film and very well made in the indie world. Krysten Ritter's star is starting to shine bright. She's been in the Hollywood spotlight for awhile but Jessica Jones really catapulted her. For me it was Breaking Bad following by the deliciously satirical Don't Trust the B$%#^ But in this film she co-write with the director and just really sinks her teeth into this role. She definitely leads every scene and really makes you care about her character more than the others. Kate Bosworth to me seemed like an odd choice as Ritter's counterpart but they actually have really good chemistry. Bosworth is really good as the best friend who never had to grow up much thanks to not having gotten pregnant. Both of them have good story arcs and while I would have liked to have seen a little more development to her character, she does very well. Rachel Bilson gets the short end of the stick. I felt like she could have been more and done more especially in the laughs area. I didn't even realize she was supposed to "virginal" which would have made a lot of the jokes money funny early on. She also didn't get a lot of time with the other girls so she gets left out a lot. Geoff Stults does a good job as Ritter's love interest. I always find him a little cheesy but he works for this and actually gives a decent performance with little development. Jason Biggs also makes a small and almost lack luster performance as well. Justin Kirk was actually really good in a comedic, ridiculous way and I loved his story with Bosworth. This is such a great "chick flick" I think directed by Kat Coiro whose other film A Case Of You was a decent indie movie as well. This isn't your typical rom-com and actually has some real meat behind it and some really good morals and things to learn and I think especially young parents can enjoy the concept behind it. It has enough laughs to keep it light and enough drama to make you remember it afterwards. Its one of those films that no one saw when it got made (2011 in this case) and it won't be topping any charts but it's still worth seeing!! 8/10

It showed up on my Netflix watchlist after devouring Krysten Ritter's two seasons of highly entertaining Don't trust the B in apartment 23. I was looking for a light girly movie and L!fe happens delivered. I thought the story was surprisingly decent, and Krysten, Kate and even Rachel were pretty good in their limited roles. I recommend it, it was quite funny, girly, and for me at least a little thought-provoking about single mothers without being too drama and tears about it. And of course all the girls look gorgeous even with baby puke on them :) Nice little movie about friendship, plans not working out, motherhood and happy endings.