‘Expecting’ Review
Stars: Radha Mitchell, Michelle Monaghan, John Dore, Michael Weston, Mimi Kennedy, Sarah Aldrich | Written and Directed by Jessie McCormack
Radha Mitchell plays Lizzie, a woman who has been trying to conceive a child with her husband for years and has almost given up hope. But, when her best friend Andie (Michelle Monaghan) gets pregnant on a one night stand, Andie offers to have the baby and give it to Lizzie. Lizzie accepts but on one condition, Andie must move in with her and her husband for the duration of the pregnancy. Will their friendship survive until the birth? Will the relationship troubles between Lizzie and her husband affect their performance as parents?
Expecting is advertised as a comedy drama, a comedrama? A dramedy? I am not sure that either of those words exist but I would definitely say that it is more drama than comedy. The moments that made me smile were few and far between compared to the moments where people are arguing, complaining or struggling with one issue or another. Now, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For example, the moments with Lizzie’s husband’s brother Casey, played by Michael Weston, were very well done. A recovering drug addict who’s over protective brother won’t leave him alone, lead to some great exchanges. His scenes with Andie as well were hilarious, showing the ‘candid comedy’ aspects of the film at their best.
But the main couple of the film, Lizzie and Peter (John Dore)…. Ugh. Their arguments and constant bickering made me want to bash my head against a wall repeatedly. I understand that they are having relationship trouble and that is a main theme in Expecting but did they have to make it so annoying? At points it did feel as if the film was screaming at me “Look! Look at their relationship problems! See how much drama is going on here!” Yes, thank you film, I understand.
Overall, Expecting‘s story doesn’t really push any boundaries. You could probably guess what happens without watching it. However, I must say that once I had put my annoyance at the main couple aside, the film did seem to draw me in. So, not a complete failure of a film but not anything that I would fight to the death for just to watch. It’s quite a light hearted jaunt, so if you think you might be interested in checking it out maybe this film should be reserved for hangover recovery days or nights in when you find yourself without anything better to do.
Expecting is out now on VOD (iTunes, FilmFlex, Blinkbox, LoveFilm, Playstation, XBox, Google Play) from Solo Media.
