The Back-Up Plan (2010)

(On Cable TV, February 2012) Reviewing some movies can also be about taking stock of one’s place in life, and I mention this solely because I suspect that as a new dad, I’m a bit more receptive than usual to a slightly-sarcastic comedy about pregnancy.  Here, it’s almost a relief to see Jennifer Lopez take a step back from being a celebrity gossip object to focus on a roundly comic role as a baby-crazy woman who ends up meeting her perfect match shortly after artificial impregnation.  This being said, The Back-Up Plan isn’t a particularly good film: The plot threads are obvious, the scenes plays out as they’re expected to, socially-acceptable morals are reaffirmed and cute animals are used as plot devices.  But viewers with recent experience with pregnancy may want to tilt their appreciation upward, if only in sympathy.  Even as an over-romanticized romantic comedy about people enjoying vast New York apartments and lifestyles on unclear financial footing, The Back-Up Plan is innocuous and even compelling at times.  Lopez turns in a good comic performance, and some of the supporting players earn their shares of laughs.  Not great, not bad, but a whole lot better if you’re rocking a newborn in your arms as you watch at low volume.