Not quite your Backup Plan
Alan Poul who has mostly been known for the small screen comes out with romcom featuring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O’Loughlin. JLo needs no introduction but hasn’t donned a major role in a long time. Alex O’Loughlin is an Australian born actor and hasn’t done any major movies but has acted in a quite a few TV series. Kate Angelo has written the story. She has the credit of writing a couple of episodes of “Will and Grace”. Overall the movie doesn’t have the background of top draw and hence the anticipation is quite low. The disappointing part is that the movie falls even below those low expectations
The Back up Plan is about how two people, Zoe and Stan (Jennifer Lopez and Alex O’laughlin), meet and fall in love under some unusual circumstances. Zoe gets inseminated with a stranger’s sperm because she is tired of her relationships not being able to sustain over long periods. Stan has a farm and sells Goat milk cheese. He is a divorcee and has had his share of bad relationships. It is the usual ordeal of how the girl meets the guy, how they fall in love but they aren’t quite there due to something or the other and then finally come together. This is the story that has been retold by many over the years, consistently. Sadly, this movie does the same without digressing an inch so much so that the outcome becomes the blandest dish of the buffet of a salt less spread.
Many movies have their moments. The movie might not be a success but there are certain moments that make the movie bearable or appreciable. The Back Up plan can boast of nothing like that. The chemistry between JLo and O’laughlin is absent and in some cases laughable. I have seen a few movies of JLo. She isn’t an actress that can carry off any role. But some roles suit her like no other. Some movies that immediately come to my mind are “Shall we dance” and “U turn”. The character in the Back Up plan is nothing like the two movies I mentioned and she being the protagonist of this movie does no justice to the role at all. Her comedy timing is woeful and her emotions are out of place. Alex Laughlin can make a good mannequin but acting is found wanting in this movie. The role of Stan isn’t an easy one. It is about this guy who isn’t quite sure if he likes kids and the thought of him raising kids is plain overwhelming to him. He does try to pull off the shocked face every now and then but very unconvincingly. The lead roles are two of the many woes of the movie but Alan Poul could have got atleast that bit right had he picked Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant or Richard Gere. Yes, they are a little old but any day better.
The movie is a 2 hour long delivery of several clichés and utter predictability. The dialogues can be predicted hours before their delivery and the scenes dole out in such an expected fashion that you are surprised that the director actually thought he could direct such a movie which offers no surprise and still expect an appreciation from the audience. Anthony Anderson from Kangaroo Jack is roped in for a couple of scenes. I must say those are the only scenes that managed to bring a smile to my face. The movie attempts comedy around pregnancy and all the pre tests, post tests and delivery. That is plain atrocious. Some of the jokes like the one where a gynecologist goes on saying the popular word for the female reproductive organ over and over again leaves us staring at the blasphemy of the situation. If anything that scene is embarrassing. The OST for the movie is “What is love” by Jennifer Lopez. The song is nice and soulful but doesn’t add taste to the movie. There is nothing subtle about this movie and there is nothing funny. We cannot call it romance because O’laughlin and JLo do not complement each other whatsoever. Hence the director has managed to create a new genre of movies that should only be used for private viewing of his close friends who are polite enough to appreciate it.
The movie lacks a lot of things. The screen play could have been better. The story could have been used better. Enough elements of surprise can be created in the movie and an experienced actor can make the movie really funny. Paul needed somebody like a Ben Stiller or Ashton Kutcher who can make the audience laugh even if they wink their eyes. The movie has a lot of emotions, the relationship between JLo and her grandmother who has been engaged for 30 odd years now, JLo and her friend who has 4 kids and her own trust issues. But the movie makes no attempt to bring it out because the director is confused as to what scene should look funny and what scene shouldn’t. All said and done I am not wishing that the movie be redone. I just have to say that this isn’t quite my Back Up plan. What should you do….. Avoid it!
The Back up Plan is about how two people, Zoe and Stan (Jennifer Lopez and Alex O’laughlin), meet and fall in love under some unusual circumstances. Zoe gets inseminated with a stranger’s sperm because she is tired of her relationships not being able to sustain over long periods. Stan has a farm and sells Goat milk cheese. He is a divorcee and has had his share of bad relationships. It is the usual ordeal of how the girl meets the guy, how they fall in love but they aren’t quite there due to something or the other and then finally come together. This is the story that has been retold by many over the years, consistently. Sadly, this movie does the same without digressing an inch so much so that the outcome becomes the blandest dish of the buffet of a salt less spread.
Many movies have their moments. The movie might not be a success but there are certain moments that make the movie bearable or appreciable. The Back Up plan can boast of nothing like that. The chemistry between JLo and O’laughlin is absent and in some cases laughable. I have seen a few movies of JLo. She isn’t an actress that can carry off any role. But some roles suit her like no other. Some movies that immediately come to my mind are “Shall we dance” and “U turn”. The character in the Back Up plan is nothing like the two movies I mentioned and she being the protagonist of this movie does no justice to the role at all. Her comedy timing is woeful and her emotions are out of place. Alex Laughlin can make a good mannequin but acting is found wanting in this movie. The role of Stan isn’t an easy one. It is about this guy who isn’t quite sure if he likes kids and the thought of him raising kids is plain overwhelming to him. He does try to pull off the shocked face every now and then but very unconvincingly. The lead roles are two of the many woes of the movie but Alan Poul could have got atleast that bit right had he picked Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant or Richard Gere. Yes, they are a little old but any day better.
The movie is a 2 hour long delivery of several clichés and utter predictability. The dialogues can be predicted hours before their delivery and the scenes dole out in such an expected fashion that you are surprised that the director actually thought he could direct such a movie which offers no surprise and still expect an appreciation from the audience. Anthony Anderson from Kangaroo Jack is roped in for a couple of scenes. I must say those are the only scenes that managed to bring a smile to my face. The movie attempts comedy around pregnancy and all the pre tests, post tests and delivery. That is plain atrocious. Some of the jokes like the one where a gynecologist goes on saying the popular word for the female reproductive organ over and over again leaves us staring at the blasphemy of the situation. If anything that scene is embarrassing. The OST for the movie is “What is love” by Jennifer Lopez. The song is nice and soulful but doesn’t add taste to the movie. There is nothing subtle about this movie and there is nothing funny. We cannot call it romance because O’laughlin and JLo do not complement each other whatsoever. Hence the director has managed to create a new genre of movies that should only be used for private viewing of his close friends who are polite enough to appreciate it.
The movie lacks a lot of things. The screen play could have been better. The story could have been used better. Enough elements of surprise can be created in the movie and an experienced actor can make the movie really funny. Paul needed somebody like a Ben Stiller or Ashton Kutcher who can make the audience laugh even if they wink their eyes. The movie has a lot of emotions, the relationship between JLo and her grandmother who has been engaged for 30 odd years now, JLo and her friend who has 4 kids and her own trust issues. But the movie makes no attempt to bring it out because the director is confused as to what scene should look funny and what scene shouldn’t. All said and done I am not wishing that the movie be redone. I just have to say that this isn’t quite my Back Up plan. What should you do….. Avoid it!
Comments
Post a Comment