Life as We Know It: Critic Reviews

A comedy as disposable -- and stinky -- as loaded Pampers.

There is not a single deviation from formula.

Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel have an appealing chemistry, but Life as We Know It is tripped up by awkwardly fusing a familiar sitcom scenario with a tragic premise.

Whose life are we talking about, exactly?

It's brisk, pleasantly acted, painless. These days, that's high praise.

The feminine fantasies Berlanti seemingly seeks to stoke are undercut by a vibe thats weirdly misogynistic.

Veers not an inch off Hollywood's well-worn rom-com path.

What are two particularly engaging performers doing in a dump of a comedy like this?

Watching Duhamel and Heigl discover the joys and pains of parenthood is cute as far as it goes, but their story can't progress too far until the kid is out of diapers.

Yes, there are some twists, a nice comedic turn or two, but the inevitable hook-up of dueling opposites is never anything but inevitable.

I didn't laugh once at any of this trite, sentimental gunk...

So anyway, what happens in Life As We Know It? You'll never guess in a million years. Never.

This is a change from what audiences have come to expect from the usual Heigl vehicle. She's quicker-witted and warmer than usual here, and she keeps Duhamel on his toes, even when the storyline drags its feet.

Credulity is stretched throughout.

With pratfalls and teardrops, the film swings from sitcom to sit-dram.

It aims for comfort food, but ends up with leftovers.

The supporting cast serves up enough small moments of surprise to keep this formula flick from falling flat.

Life demonstrates quite a lot about the state of this genre as we know it -- and by that unexacting measure, anyway, it's better than most.

Basically, this is The Taming of the Shrew with an adorable-baby twist that never occurred to William Shakespeare.

As uneven as it is, Life as We Know It still goes down like comic comfort food, especially for anybody who's ever dealt with parenthood.

Just like the clunker you end up buying and liking in spite of everything, Life As We Know It gets you there. Exactly where is hard to say, but chances are you won't regret making the journey.

The title becomes a depressingly self-fulfilling prophecy: This is movie life as we have all come to know it.

If innocuous entertainment, amiable enough while it lasts but forgettable beyond, has a place in life as you know it, then Life As We Know It will have a place in your heart.

Cloying and at times annoying, Life as We Know It is egregiously manipulative, whoring itself out for a few unearned tears.

Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel do make for very attractive leads while bringing plenty of vitality to thinly written roles.