The Back-up Plan – An Alliance Films Release

http://www.theback-upplan.com/

DVD Release Date: August 24th, 2010

Rated PG – language may offend, mature theme.

Running time: 104 minutes

Alan Poul (dir.)

Kate Angelo (screenplay)

Stephen Trask (music)

Jennifer Lopez as Zoe

Alex O’Loughlin as Stan

Michaela Watkins as Mona

Eric Christian Olsen as Clive

Bonus Features Include:

• Deleted scenes

• Making of featurette including an interview with Jennifer Lopez

Our reviews below:

_______________________________________________

The Back-up Plan DVD Review By John C.

*1/2 (out of 4)

Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) gets artificially knocked up only to meet “the one” as she is leaving the sperm bank.  “The one” is Stan (Alex O’ Loughlin), who lives on a farm and makes organic goat cheese.  But how will Zoe tell him she’s already carrying a kid?  I knew every plot point before even watching this movie, and quite frankly I didn’t care about any of them.  The low-brow humour is often of the gross out variety, with several jokes about vomiting, among other things that I do not care to remember.

Maybe you’d enjoy it more if you’ve actually had kids, but I actually want to laugh when watching a comedy.  I didn’t laugh once during this mess of a movie, a smile was raised once or twice due to the dog that uses a wheelchair, but other than that, there wasn’t anything to laugh at.  At 104 minutes, The Back-up Plan often drags, making overly long come in near the top of it’s long list of problems.

The DVD includes deleted scenes and a making-of featurette.

___________________________________________________________________________

The Back-up Plan DVD Review By Erin V.

** (out of 4)

In The Back-Up Plan Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) wants to have a kid, but she’s just never met ‘the one.’  So, she opts to be artificially inseminated.  What are the odds that she’d meet the guy of her dreams as she leaves the clinic by getting in his cab?  Well, in a film like this, that’s what happens and becomes basically the premise of the movie.  She’s pregnant and now in love – will he want to stay and help her raise the baby?

On the down-side of this movie, there were some unneeded gross-out gags, and I didn’t like the fate of her pregnancy pillow.  And the opening of the official site is a bit strange.  But basically, it clearly is really only going to be enjoyed by a set target of people (mostly females in a certain age range), but I didn’t think it was the worst thing to watch, and had it’s fine moments.

___________________________________________________________________________

The Back-up Plan DVD Review By Nicole

**1/2 (out of 4)

The Back-Up Plan is an amusing rom-com about an unusual start to a new family.  Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) is a single woman who never found the right guy.  But she wants to be a mom, so she goes through artificial insemination with an anonymous donor.  The day she becomes inseminated however, she meets a guy named Stan (Alex O’Loughlin), who she ends up falling in love with.  But how will she tell him about her pregnancy?

The Back-Up Plan had a few gross out gags that were unnecessary.  It was also a bit too long.  But there were a lot of things about the film I did like, including an adorable little dog named Nuts, who uses a wheelchair.  A single mother’s group with a “back to nature” mentality was also funny.  I found that the film does spark important ethical questions about sperm donation.  (though The Kids are All Right does this better.)  The Back-Up Plan is a harmless movie that is worth an evening rental.

___________________________________________________________________________

The Back-up Plan DVD Review By Maureen

**1/4 (out of 4)

It’s a good thing Jennifer Lopez has a certain sweetness and charm to her.  Otherwise The Back-Up Plan would be just another really mediocre romantic-comedy.  It’s Lopez that makes this rather average rom-com mildly watchable and sweetly entertaining.

Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) is a single New-Yorker who decides to take control of her life and become pregnant through artificially insemination.  Of course now that she’s decided she doesn’t need a man to keep her happy she meets Stan (Alex O’Loughlin).  A perfect romance follows until reality hits – she’s pregnant by an anonymous donor.  Can their love survive?

Most of the humour in this movie relies on gross out gags and low brow jokes about pregnancy and childbirth.  The single mom’s by choice group Zoe attends is mildly amusing with a laugh out loud giving birth scene with one of the members.  The ending of The Back-Up Plan is predictable but if you are in the mood for a rom-com that stars Jennifer Lopez then check this one out.

___________________________________________________________________________

The Back-up Plan DVD Review By Tony

** (out of 4)

The opening shot of The Back-up Plan doesn’t bode well. The tips of her feet in stirrups filling the screen, Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) is heard apologizing that she hadn’t prepared for her artificial insemination with a pedicure. After too many disappointing relationships Zoe is determined to have a child on her own, despite all the horror stories her sister shares as she chases after her own four rugrats.  Zoe and Stan (Alex O’Loughlin) run into each other several times before nature takes its course in Stan’s cheese aging room.  Fears that admitting her pregnancy will scare Stan off prove unjustified as they prepare for the blessed event.

Despite attractive leads, The Back-up Plan is no more than an overlong sitcom episode, with nothing we haven’t already seen many times.  At least it is relatively inoffensive, so it may deserve a rental if you like this sort of thing, or want to see enough cameos to fill a Hollywood Squares board, including Robert Klein (OBGYN), Linda Lavin (Granny), Tom Bosley (Granny’s man) and Barbara Perry (Gran’s wedding singer).

___________________________________________________________________________

Consensus: It will have it’s audience as a rental, but ultimately, there are better rom-coms than The Back-Up Plan. ** (Out of 4)