Film Review: What to Expect When You’re Expecting

What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Rated M (sexual references and coarse language). 110 minutes. Directed by Kirk Jones. Screenplay byShauna Cross and Heather Hach. Based on the book by Heidi Murkoff.

Verdict: While it certainly won’t be for everyone, this charming little romance-infused comedy/drama works as well as you might expect.

With an all-star cast playing immensely likable characters, a keenly-observed screenplay by Ms Cross (Whip It) and Ms Hach (Freaky Friday) from Ms Murkoff’s bestseller, and a steady hand from Mr Jones (Nanny McPhee, Everybody's Fine), this charming little romantic comedy/drama works on every level.

Continuing the trend of recent films such as Valentine’s Day (2010), five individual stories are interwoven into a broad, sweeping canvas about the perils of impending parenthood. Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games) is great as Wendy Cooper, the owner of The Breast Choice Boutique – and her late-stage pregnancy-inspired meltdown at a Baby Expo that goes viral on YouTube is comedy at its finest.

Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) and Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl) provide the youthful, passionate drama of a complicated relationship perfectly, while Cameron Diaz proves yet again that she can do practically anything with her pitch-perfect performance as the independent host of a reality television weight loss program who learns to accept that she can’t do everything on her own.

Jennifer Lopez (The Wedding Planner, Monster-in-Law, The Back-up Plan) is in fine form as the hard-working Holly who, along with her partner Alex (Rodrigo Santoro), are nervously anticipating being accepted as adoptive parents of an Ethiopian orphan. The scenes in the Ethiopian orphanage will melt the hardest of hearts, as will an unexpectedly dramatic development for one of the characters in childbirth.

While it certainly won’t move or delight everyone, What to Expect When You’re Expecting is an involving and entertaining little film that, wisely, balances all of its attendant romance, comedy and drama almost perfectly.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.

DVD Review: Everybody's Fine

Everybody's Fine. 96 minutes. Rated M. Written and directed by Kirk Jones.

Films about the paradoxical relationships fathers share with their children are rare beasts in Hollywood's 'big picture' output. The grand-parents of them all – films like The Godfather, Father of The Bride and Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? – successfully reached into the dim, dark vault of family drama. And while the circumstances that give meaning and purpose to these values differ dramatically, audiences can't help but bring their own unique and very personal experiences of family to films that dare to take the subject on.

With Everybody's Fine, Kirk Jones (Waking Ned Devine, Nanny McPhee), with the help of an arresting performance from a perfect Robert De Niro, has risen to meet this challenge and has delivered a heartfelt, unforgettable film of genuine emotional authority.

Frank Goode (De Niro) has been left alone after the death of his beloved wife, who (as wives and mums so often do), has nurtured and attended to every finite detail of family life. When, at the last minute, each of his four adult children suddenly become unavailable to attend a reunion at the family home (the first since their mother's passing), a wary and suspicious Frank sets out on a journey across America to surprise each of them with a visit instead. What he learns in the process will challenge his life's experience of being a hard-working father and husband.

Based on the 1990 Italian film Stanno Tutti Bene (Everybody's Fine) starring the incomparable Marcello Mastroianni, Kirk Jones's English-language adaptation bucks the trend of Hollywood feeding like piranha on the jewels of European cinema with a distinct lack of respect. The result is a perfectly-structured story that gently unravels, before all the various strands unite in a marvellously inventive sequence – played to the hilt by De Niro – around an outdoor dining table.

Beautifully and insightfully directed, Everybody's Fine is helped considerably by the work of Cinematographer Henry Braham (who was cinematographer on Jones's earlier films as well as the ravishing The Golden Compass). Braham ensures that the photographic essence of the film perfectly matches the incandescent, searching qualities of De Niro's central performance. Drew Broughton's (House of Sand and Fog) art direction and Andrew Jackness's production design combined to create the film's stunning visual aura which enhances the story, and the compelling performances, at every turn.

And if there is such a thing as the perfect cast, then this film has it in spades. The performances from the first-class ensemble of Hollywood stars (Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Austin Lysy play the siblings) are flawless. But ultimately, it is De Niro that anchors this film in the purest of reality – resulting in a film of intricately layered, intimate detail. Just be ready to tell your dad how much you love him … and have the box of tissues handy.

Everybody's Fine will be available on DVD from 2 June, 2010.