Film Impressions

REVIEW: The Back-up Plan (2)

FORCED LABOUR

The idea of a single-mom on screen is so far-fetched by Hollywood standards that within minutes of establishing Zoe's (Jennifer Lopez, very painful) intention of getting pregnant via an unknown sperm donor in The Back-Up Plan, she's thrown into the same cab with good-looking Stan (Alex O'Loughlin, great body but otherwise clueless). The cab cliché is clear indication of the fact that whoever wrote this film (Kate Angelo) wasn't really going to put much imagination into the process. Just throw two reasonably attractive actors together in New York, make them hate, then love each other, surround them with stereotypical friends, doctors, grandmoms and assorted other well-wishers who'll spout occasionally clever lines; then throw the couple apart, add a love song in the background and before 90 minutes are up, they're bound to exchange vows and get back together to everyone's relief. Bingo! It's a fool-proof formula.

REVIEW: The Back-Up Plan

J GO

Alan Poul’s The Back-up Plan works on the improbable premise that a very attractive woman like Jennifer Lopez (playing pet shop owner Zoe) cannot find a man, her biological clock is ticking, and she wants a baby.
 
So she opts for artificial insemination using a donor, and on the same day meets Dream Guy Stan (Alex O’Loughlin). Their ‘Meet Cute’ is as clichéd as they come—both get into the same cab and squabble.   He falls heavily in love, she keeps trying to push him away.