Maybe I’m not the target audience for that joke. And, on paper, I’m probably not the target audience for What To Expect When You’re Expecting. I’m a man who loves Army of Darkness and Road House. But, and I have absolutely no shame in writing this, I enjoyed the romantic comedy ensemble Valentine’s Day more than Cowboys & Aliens. Although considering how dull the latter is, that’s one of the least controversial things I’ll ever write. What To Expect When You’re Expecting could so easily have been another romantic comedy ensemble off that conveyor belt. It starts just like one, with a pastiche of a celebrity dancing show (which wasn’t even that funny when American Reunion did it a lot better), and a scatter shot approach to introducing the principle couples. We have Jennifer Lopez and Rodrigo Santoro (attractive and adopting), Elizabeth Banks and Ben Falcone (down to earth first-time parents who are slightly less attractive than the others), Anna Kendrick and Chace Crawford (young and really attractive!), Cameron Diaz and Matthew Morrison (attractive, but with relationship difficulties). Despite not being directed by Garry Marshall, What To Expect …falls into that ensemble trap of valuing really, really good looking actors above those with good comic timing. Crawford looks great in a v-neck t-shirt, Santoro even better, but neither seem at ease trading verbal blows with their respective companion. And the film has a similar struggle during its first thirty minutes – it looks really nice, but is rarely very funny. One scene has a couple discuss circumcision options while someone nonchalantly peels a banana. That’s about as good as it gets. So while What To Expect‘s main cast run through the usual comedic set-ups and melodramatic routines, the film’s supporting cast (the ones you don’t see on the poster) get to reap the benefits. Falcone (Bridesmaids’ Air Marshall Jon) walks away with it, followed closely by Rebel Wilson even though she’s playing the exact same role she did in Bridesmaids: the ditzy, weird girl. In a film where convention rules, their off-kilter, underplayed reactions stand head and shoulders above anything else. Maybe that’s a result of Brit director Kirk Jones in the director’s chair. He brings that British quality of things not having to be perfect and shiny all the time. He can’t fix everything – I Love You Man‘s Thomas Lennon and Rob Heubel (‘urinal cakes!’) are given material so thin even they can’t do much with it, Chris Rock plays Chris Rock the stand-up comedian but without the jokes, and the film reverts to melodramatic type come the last act – but he does enough to make this much better than the poster suggests. And good enough to survive a second Cheryl Cole appearance. That’s quite something.
