The only reason to watch The Back-Up Plan is Jennifer Lopez. I’ve admired Lopez since her marvelous performance as U. S. Marshall Karen Sisco in Out of Sight. But that Jennifer Lopez is not to be found in this film. Lopez plays an owner of a pet shop in New York City who desperately wants a family. She’s artificially inseminated by her doctor (Robert Klein) and then meets Alex O’Loughlin, owner of a goat cheese farm. Their relationship is rocky, but there’s real chemistry between Lopez and O’Loughlin. The familiar “boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back again” template is followed rigorously. No surprises here. If you’re a Jennifer Lopez fan, you’ll want to see this routine romantic comedy. GRADE: C
If you don’t have the script, the director, the writer, the co-stars, it doesn’t give you much to work with. We saw Runaways. Also disappointing.
We’re on the cusp of the Summer Movie Season, Patti. Hopefully, we’ll see better movies in the months ahead. I wish J Lo had continued to seek roles like “Karen Sisco” instead of these routine romantic roles.
I’d rather watch “I Know What You Did Last Summer”.
THE BACK-UP PLAN isn’t terrible, Rick. It just follows the romantic comedy formula so strictly that no surprises are allowed.
So, the way to pick-up girls is to become a goat cheese farmer. I’d always half-suspected that…
It only seems to work if the girl owns a pet shop, Drongo.
No Drongo, the way to pick up girls is to look like this particular goat cheese farmer! Alex O’Loughlin is hotter than hell! I thought the film was funny, it was different than most rom-coms (not so sappy) and the leads’ chemistry was awesome! I’d give it more a Grade B. A+ for O’Loughlin!
You’re right about 0’Loughlin’s performance, Kerrie. He made the most of what he was given to work with in his role. I’m expecting great things from him.
I love TBUP, and Alex O. shines as Stan. He is the reason I went to see the movie – well, 3 times now – and Alex never disappoints. He is a brilliant actor, and he is great at comedy. He has perfect timing, and he never takes it too far. Some actors take it to an extreme where it becomes just silly – not Alex. He really made the movie LOL funny and at times very touching. When you watch a romantic movie, comedy or not – and you end up wishing you were part of that romantic couple – in my case, Zoe – well, that’s a good romance. Add all the laughs and the fact that so many scenes were so unexpected – well, go see TBUP and have lots of fun!
The whole cast was great – especially the ladies in the birthing group – and had to love seeing The Dog Whisperer. Who could resist that little dog in the cart? I attended the premiere in LA and was delighted to see he showed up, cart and all.
I laughed at the wacky birthing scene, Michael. It was the funniest moment in THE BACK-UP PLAN for me.
Jackie loved O’Loughlin as the sexy vampire in MOONLIGHT, but there’s no way even she would pay money to see this one.
I am in the NOT a J-Lo fan group. Had she stuck to roles like Karen Sisco, as George said, she’d have had a career to be proud of; instead… .
J Lo can do the “sex kitten” role pretty well, Jeff. But her memorable Karen Sisco role in OUT OF SIGHT is the role I’ll always admire.