Friends with Kids review: Bridesmaids revisited

Real life friends Westfeldt and Scott play the same on-screen

Featuring pretty much the whole cast of Bridesmaids; Friends With Kids is almost the grown-up version of the hilarious chick-flick. Two best friends, Jason (Adam Scott) and Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt) decide to take out all the stress from a romantic relationship with children, by having a kid together whilst remaining completely platonic.

The pair’s theory is that by having a child between them as buddies, they therefore skip all the tiredness, all the arguing and all the lack of sex, which you would usually get in a relationship but still get to have a kid, with the added bonus of being able to look for “the perfect person” on the side.

Written and directed by Westfeldt, the film gives off a serious edge despite being sold as a comedy.  There are certainly not as many “laugh-out loud” moments as there are in Bridesmaids, but this is not necessarily to its detriment. It’s more satirical, and the humour is implied rather than slapstick. It’s a different kind of romantic comedy, focussing more on love that gets through the bad stuff, rather than the make-believe love that has no bad stuff, which you often see in the genre.

The casting, albeit copying one of last year’s biggest comedies, is probably the best part of Friends With Kids. The minor roles are the more humourous parts, that fall into the more than capable hands of Kristen Wiig, Chris McDowd, Maya Rudolph and Jon Hamm.

McDowd, Wiig, Rudolph and Hamm are excellent support

The movie seems pretty rushed in parts and there definitely does seem to be pacing issues throughout. Sections of the film drag, without much passing dialogue or action. But it’s a pleasant, albeit predictable movie, which provides a few chuckle-worthy moments.