Written by, directed by and starring Jennifer Westfeldt of "Kissing Jessica Stein" (2001), "Friends with Kids" is a romantic comedy about best friends Julie (Westfeldt) and Jason (Adam Scott) who decide to have a child together while keeping their relationship entirely platonic. Relishing in the joys of parenthood only half the time, they are able to pursue the dating world to find significant others. As they watch their closest married friends struggle with children, Julie and Jason believe having a child together without the other responsibilities of marriage will make matters much less complicated. Cracks begin to develop in their "seamless" plan, as feelings form between Julie and Jason when they start seriously dating other people. Marina Shkuratov
Directed by: WestfeldtWith: Scott, Westfeldt, Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Megan Fox107 minutesRated R
"Friends with Kids" attempts to shake up the conventional romantic comedy plotline, but it does not quite succeed. While the film contains some witty dialogue, the audience is left unsurprised. What left me unfulfilled is that the film adds nothing substantive to the conversation about the struggles of partners being happily in love while also raising kids. Rohail Premjee
The film is half hilarious and half severely depressing. Jason and Julie decide to take on a quite progressive method of parenting, having a child together without the joys or worries of a committed romantic relationship, so the film opens up a discussion regarding our generation's obsession with independence and "having your cake and eating it too." Leslie (Rudolph) provides humor, as her relationship mostly displays the positives of marriage, while Wiig's character Missy is trapped and miserable in an unhappy marriage. Jason and Julie's situation has many ups and downs, which is great for keeping the movie watchers' interest, but the ending is very predictable. Dana Venerable
I despise romantic comedies for their hackneyed plot carried out in the same dramatic and cheesy fashion. "Friends with Kids" is not much different in that respect, but tries to make it interesting by throwing a no-strings-attached baby into the mix. Westfeldt takes a page from Woody Allen's book by directing, writing, starring and having hot people drool over her in the movie. Unlike Allen, though, Westfeldt is charming and attractive enough to pull it off. Varun Bhuchar
