Life As We Know It

Set up on a blind date by their married best friends, Holly (Katherine Heigl) and Eric (Josh Duhamel) show each other the worst of themselves and separate in a huff before making it to dinner. Soon, the best friends die, leaving custody of a baby daughter to the “incompatible” twosome. Guess how long it takes the barely mourning singles to fall in love?

If sitcom parenthood begins with a romantic kiss and resolves itself in a lifetime of compromise, Life As We Know It imagines motherhood in reverse. Largely shooting through a hazy white, dreamlike filter, director Greg Berlanti creates some woman’s dream: instant satisfaction of domestic and matrimonial urges via the takeover of a perfect friend’s perfect life — with the bonuses of transforming an Entourage-style dude into a domesticated dad and indulging in desserts while still fitting into a pencil skirt. And all without having to put up with stretch marks, without putting the career on hold, without having to do much at all but change an occasional diaper.

Perfect wish fulfillment, right? If only. The feminine fantasies that Berlanti seemingly seeks to stoke are undercut by a vibe that’s weirdly misogynistic.