Back in 2001, Jennifer Westfeldt wrote and starred in Kissing Jessica Stein, a little indie comedy that received decent reviews and a handful of minor award nominations. A decade later, she returns as writer and star – as well as stepping behind the camera – for Friends With Kids, an ensemble comedy that borrows heavily from Judd Apatow’s supporting cast, prompting the lazy moniker of ‘this year’s Bridesmaids’.
Westfeldt stars as Julie, a single thirtysomething who lives in the same apartment block as her best friend Jason (Adam Scott). The two have been close pals since college without any romantic feelings ever being an issue, in fact quite the opposite as they share with each other the gory details of their faltering love lives.
Their closest friends are Ben (Jon Hamm), Missy (Kristen Wiig), Leslie (Maya Rudolph) and Alex (Chris O’Dowd), two couples who are happily married and on the brink of parenthood.
Fast forward a couple of years and Julie and Jason have hardly seen their friends since the arrival of their kids. When they do see them, they’re exhausted and prickly, the fun and romance completely gone from their relationships. It’s at this point that Julie and Jason decide to have a kid together, getting the messy side of parenthood out of the way with each other so it won’t come between them and their eventual partners. Despite the bemused reaction of their friends, the pair have awkward, drunken sex and nine months later little Joe is born.
It’s not hard to imagine where the film goes from here. While there are some shrewd observations of the effect children can have on a marriage, the main relationship follows a conventional romcom trajectory. Though the split custody works for a while and both Julie and Jason embark on serious relationships with handsome family man Kurt (Ed Burns) and sexy young dancer Mary Jane (Megan Fox) respectively, Julie harbours an attraction to Jason that inevitably comes to the fore and threatens to ruin their experiment.
The more insightful moments come from the supporting cast, showing two very different marriages. Leslie and Alex are very comfortable with each other and have their hard times but remain happy. Missy and Ben, once so in love that their impromptu love-making was a running joke between their friends, are now a mess. She cries a lot, he drinks a lot and neither one can stand the sight of each other any more. It’s interesting that Wiig, the most accomplished comedy actor in the cast, finds herself with the darkest role but she copes well, as does Hamm whose drunken monologue provides one of the film’s highlights.
In the leading roles, Westfeldt and Scott make an appealing couple with convincing chemistry that makes their slightly less credible friendship seem more believable than it perhaps should. Scott makes for a witty and charming leading man without losing the slightly dickish quality that has seen him steal scenes in supporting roles for years now.
The central premise is an interesting set up for a movie but right from the off it’s fairly easy to predict where the film will end up. This predictability is often hidden behind the smart dialogue and charming performances of everyone involved which makes for some fun light entertainment. The biggest failing is that despite its many qualities, it is rarely laugh out loud funny nor does the drama ever really hit hard, leaving Friends With Kids a nice little indie that it’s hard to feel strongly about.
