Day: December 6, 2011

If you ever saw a preview of Life As We Know It, you probably assumed it was the “unofficial sequel” to Knocked Up. Even has the same main chick in Katherine Heigl. But instead of the story of the accidental pregnancy to birth, we instead get the first few years post birth. Done and done. I guess they realized that though too, and made the plot a lot different than the previews would have you believe.

Or Seth Rogen was probably too busy doing The Green Hornet, or something. So they had to change shit.

So what happens instead? Well, Heigl and Josh Duhamel are on a blind date with each other, both set up by their best friends (who happen to be dating). They don’t even leave the driveway, before they leave, hating each others guts. Wooo, matchmaking.

But in the opening credits, you find that unfortunately they have to spend a lot more time together. Especially because their friends, Hayes MacArthur and Christina Hendricks (of Mad Men), are now married and have a child! Damn it. Even a cool new suburban house. Now that they are godparents, and both single, they just can’t stop running into each other. But what is next might be spoilers? But it is necessary to explain the plot.

OH NO CAR CRASH. Dead parents. Baby was at home! Oh guess who were put in the will to take care of the baby and get the house? Yep. Our main two stars.

Now these two people, who don’t love each other, have to raise a kid together, in the same house, in order to help honor their friends spirits. Also, Josh Lucas is lurking his pediatrician head into the mix, to try and get some of that Heigl too.

Hilarious baby hijinks time!

The movie deals with their relationship over time, until of course, they realize they like each other. But that is probably more the living together/dead friends/baby thing, than actual love. But who am I to judge? What makes this movie work is the great chemistry between Duhamel and Heigl, they are pretty great in this movie. What doesn’t let it work is everything else. The plot? It is okay. Everything that occurs is predictable. The cast of neighbor characters, although plentiful, don’t seem to add much for me. Nor does any of the drama associated with either of their jobs and future goals.

At its heart, it is more romcom than comedy, and technically all that really should matter is the chemistry between the stars. If that is all you need, then go ahead and love it. But I was hoping for a bit more to it. Despite the long time that passes in the movie, I am left feeling not enough happened.

Gamer reminds me of Surrogates, in that both featured a way to control another “person” in a different environment. In Surrogates, everyone had one, and they weren’t real people. In Gamer, they can control actual human beings! Why? For games of course.

Which is what I imagine Sims 4 will be like.

But seriously. Michael C. Hall plays some rich genius, who used nanotechnology to replicate cells inside of a human brain, meaning that they can work like normal, but robot like! And with it, he developed a technology so these people can be controlled. Slavery? Probably. His first game, Society, pretty much was the sims, but where people used their characters to injure themselves on purpose, do nasty things, or run around naked. Because what else would you do? Then he made the game Slayers, featuring death row inmates! A real shooting game, that everyone volunteers for, because if you survive 30 rounds you can go home free. Woo!

Gerald Butler plays Kable and he has already survived 27 games! Can he make the final 3? Well, thankfully his controller, Logan Lerman, is a pretty damn good gamer. But what’s that? There is also a “Terrorist group” calling themselves Humanz, lead by Ludacris, who think Hall is just going to eventually make it so everyone can be controlled by him. Oh, and also Amber Valletta plays Butler’s wife, but she is stuck in Society too.

Shits crazy, yo.

So, this will be remembered as that shitty film with Gerard Butler in it, probably. Well, shitty action movie at least. Don’t want to get in the way of his rom-coms. But you know what this movie does randomly have? A song and dance scene with Michael C. Hall, and a fight! I even found it on youtube, but can’t embed it, but you will do yourself a favor to watch at least the first half of this clip.

Bet you didn’t know that Dexter like’d to boogie.

So, even if that was the only enjoyable thing, that’d bump this movie up to a one automatically. Sure there is some other interesting stuff. But not much. A lot of the “gaming” action too seemed especially boring, which was weird. But eh, can only do much with FPSs, I guess.