Ah, the story of Mr. Right appearing just in the nick of time, well almost. Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) has spent her life looking for the perfect guy but he has never shown up. Now she wants a baby and decides to become pregnant on her own through artificial insemination. It would just figure that right after deciding to use her backup plan a new man enters the picture forcing her life to adjust once again.
The film stars and generally centers around Lopez as the wacky yet likeable Zoe, a character who is not unlike those we have seen in J.Lo’s past. Her co-star, Alex O’Loughlin plays the male lead of Stan, a handsome cheese-maker. Other notable cast members include Micheala Watkins, as the jaded New York mother, Mona, and Melissa McCarthy as Carol the leader of a group of proud single mothers.
The most amusing scenes in “The Back-Up Plan” occurs during moments of the true-to-life internal dialogue by the problem riddled Zoe. Unfortunately the remaining seventy percent of the film is spent bouncing awkwardly between the less than steamy romance and the failed attempts at comedy.
There are a couple of good scenes but are they reason enough to endure the rest of the film? Not unless you have a deep desire to see farmers’ markets in New York and a poorly acted cameo by the Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan. Still, fans of Lopez’s quirky romantic comedy style will enjoy her, just not as much as her previous roles because of the gnawingly awkward plot that defines this movie.
Too goofy to be romantic and too sappy to be funny, “The Back-Up Plan” continually fails to reach either goal accurately. It almost goes without saying that this film is, excuse the pun, simply too much of a stretch.
2.5 out of 5 stars
