The Back-up Plan (2010)

I really wanted to like it. I talked to Alex O'Loughlin about the movie over a year ago, I think. And, this was Jennifer Lopez' big return to film, after a 5 year absence. Both of their characters in The Back-Up Plan are very likable. She is a successful businesswoman who has decided she's done waiting for Mr. Right and a family. She goes ahead and gets inseminated. That day, she bumps into Stan, a gorgeous funny guy who has his own farm (note the cheese, above) and dreams of owning a sustainable food shop. He pursues her, she resists. All sorts of clumsy, weird things happen along the way. Honestly, these characters and their relationship is really interesting. It's all the other junk the filmmakers put into play that I found distracting and distasteful and unbelievable. For instance, Zoe has an upscale pet store with a couple of interesting employees who have realistic questions about her and for her, but we barely see them. Instead, we're subjected to a strange single mother's group that is stereotypical and offensive. It's like the writer and director are trying to straddle a line between a sweet rom-com, like Sweet Home Alabama, and something more crude, like Knocked Up. There were so many likable and believable story threads that were just dropped, in favor of the gross out scene or something silly that just didn't make sense for the characters. I didn't hate it, because I liked the leads, I was just really disappointed and not satisfied. I give The Back-Up Plan a 6 out of 10.

Fmovies: ...I knew I was in for a long and gruesome two hours. When the doctor uttered, "I'm not looking at your toenails, I'm looking at your cervix," I knew it was all downhill from here.

What can I say about this movie? First, let's discuss how unrealistic it is. Sure, movies are not always meant to be based on realism, but... meeting a random guy on the street, having the guy be weirdly fascinated by you after having met for only what, 3 minutes, falling in love with each other, and finally, having the guy so enamored by you that he is willing to be the father to your artificially inseminated children?

Just doesn't happen! Lopez and O'Loughlin have zero chemistry. I never once believed that these two people who met on the street were really "falling in love." Their "fights" were hardly believable either and I didn't sympathize with either party.

There is also a birthing scene of another woman (not Lopez) to show how Zoe (Lopez) how painful childbirth can be, but this was dragged out for far too long. The joke was decently funny at first, but after several minutes, it's like... alright. We get it. Giving birth hurts. After several minutes, it's just not funny anymore and becomes uncomfortable.

Basically, this movie is a load of garbage. I give it two stars instead of one, though, because I would be lying if I said it didn't entertain me. The dialogue at times was so outlandish that I could not help but laugh. And nearly every planned "romantic" moment between Lopez and O'Loughlin made me laugh too.

But generally, a few comedic moments and laughable dialogue is not enough of a reason to go see this film. Definitely save your money and stay far far away from this one.

The times aren't easy for Jennifer Lopez. She still looks good, she might have a great voice and a killer body, but first her label drops her, and then she stars in a movie that's so terrible, it could simply not exist.

Let's start off with the plot, which is, I'll be first to admit it, not that bad. A single woman, gorgeous and sweet, decides to go in vitro, since she's always wanted a baby, and we all know how hard it is to find the right guy (apparently). And then she meets her prince charming, about 10 minutes after being done with the procedure. Fine with me, nowhere did it say that the movie has to be realistic. Other than that, the movie touches an interesting issue - when you're single, and you want a baby but there's nobody to make it with you, how do you make your love life and your dreams co-exist? But then the unrealistic situations start to pill up. All the funny moments are already shown in the trailer. And the movie itself, even though it starts interesting, gets completely out of hand - long and weird, making no sense, finally embarrassing and even disguising. The moment I personally gave up was when one of the ladies gives birth in the pool, poops while doing it and one of the women scoops it out with a fishnet - or was it when Lopez passes out into the pool and then, instead of taking a shower like any sane person would do, decides to take a walk? Acting is not even embarrassing - it's non existent. You'd think that after so many attempts to act, Lopez would finally learn a trick or two, maybe even become an actress; instead, her movie dog is better at acting than she is, or, I think it's safe to say, will ever be.

But the thing that bothered me the most is - aren't we all tired of silly romantic comedies packed with unrealistic situations that never happen? Cute, hunky men don't just get into the same cab as you, and then madly fall in love with you and decide to stick around, even though you're pregnant with a guy you don't even know. They don't drive their tractors semi nude. They don't make love to you in a barn full of cheese. That just doesn't happen, and I'm completely serious when I say that even Sex and the City 2 was far more realistic than The Backup Plan; not to mention, a lot more fun.

The Back-up Plan fmovies. (Synopsis) Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) has decided that she has waited long enough looking for Mr. Right to come along before she becomes a mother. Her clock is ticking, and time is running out for her, so Zoe makes an appointment with the doctor to become pregnant without a man. Within hours of the procedure, Zoe meets Stan (Alex O'Loughlin) an attractive and charming man who has caught her eye. Soon a budding relationship between them becomes a full blown courtship. Then Zoe finds out that she is pregnant after only one try at the doctor's office. She must find a way to tell Stan that she is pregnant without his walking out of her life. Stan is not sure at first, but he fully commits to Zoe and says that he is in. As the pregnancy comes nearer to the birth, both of them are unsure about the future and their relationship.

(My Comment) "The Back-up Plan" is a light-hearted romantic comedy that shows what can happen in life when you start a family in the reverse order. This movie is funny, a bit touching, and a family tale about trusting the partner you love and accepting the things he or she does. It is a feel good movie that lets the women of the world know that there are still some good men out there. The women in the audience can relate to the story, because it presents the crazy and tough times, and all the moments in-between that women go through during a pregnancy. Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin had very good "couple chemistry" as the relationship developed. Be sure to watch the credits, because there are some hilarious out-takes. This is a movie that would be best seen when it comes out in DVD; however, if you want to see Jennifer and Alex on the big screen, go ahead. (CBS Films, Run Time 1:46, Rated PG-13) (5/10)

The date-night genre of choice, rom-com's, get another black eye. People have rightfully criticized stuff like Valentine's Day for giving the genre a bad name, but Back Up Plan makes even V-Day seem almost good by comparison.

Jennifer Lopez shows up, after appearing in nothing but check-out stand gossip news rags for a while. Along with Jen are a supporting cast whose acting, simply put, reeks. Jen is an uppity "bio-clock's running" 30-something who wants a relationship, plus a child. Guys flee in terror (they must have seen abominations like Gigli, Anaconda, Jersey Girl and Monster-in-Law), so she resigns herself to a single-mom future, and goes through an artificial insemination procedure. Just minutes after learning she's pregnant, she meets Mr. Right (a poor sap who hasn't seen her movies). A possibly amusing premise, but the writer clearly had no idea where to go with it. The story is jumbled, rambling, and has no clear goal. It's more like a series of skits with corny punch lines, usually mean-spirited in that the joy of parenting is grossly mocked.

The poor sap boyfriend and JLo have romantic chemistry about as hot as the polar ice cap. The weak scripting and abysmal direction may be to blame for their poor acting performances; it's not certain. The guy just mugs and stares blankly. As for Jen, she's kind to the eyes but grating to the ears: her line delivery is a patchwork quilt of sing-song, cutesy-cute, whiny, and condescending career-woman tones. At times, she appears catatonic.

Even stuff like Iron Man and Nightmare on Elm St. would be more romantic and funny than this is.

After seeing the disappointing "Bounty Hunter" I went to see this movie with a little hope. I was wrong because this movie failed also. The story is actually in 99% of the cases impossible to happen in real life simply because there's no man out there that will be able to raise someone's babies after just one week of relationship. Second the acting was sub-mediocre. A large amount of over acting and such a clicheic story full of scenes that we saw over and over and over again in so many movies about girl meeting boy or boy meeting girl.

The movie looks just like any other romantic movie out there, the dialogue is so childish full of pointless advices, lame flirting and the character development really sucks. The soundtrack is worse... a bunch of songs cut and inserted here and there to promote bands and stuff such as because Hollywood loves these days just to make some more profit from these movies.

With all these, the movie is good if you wanna take a chick to your local theater and then just do your thing ... if not... don't even bother.