Life as We Know It
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: October 8, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
39
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
17
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
The dialogue is an occasionally witty cut above the norm, partly because director Greg Berlanti goes easy on those cute baby reaction shots, but mainly because of something rather more valuable: screen chemistry. Read full review
70
Boxoffice MagazinePete Hammond
The script, from first time screenwriters Ian Deitchman and Kristin Rusk Robinson, takes a predictable premise and gives it surprising depth. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Predicating an escapist romantic comedy on a realistic tragedy requires a nimble touch at the helm. Perhaps if Life had been made by, say, James Brooks, it would have worked. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The movie begins with a tragedy and eases into a more interesting blend of drama and comedy than we've gotten in this genre lately. Read full review
63
Orlando SentinelRoger Moore
As uneven as it is, Life as We Know It still goes down like comic comfort food, especially for anybody who's ever dealt with parenthood. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Although wholly predictable in its every beat and featuring bland, unremarkable WASPs as romantic leads, "Life" is not without its charms. Read full review
60
VarietyBrian Lowry
It's a predictable date-night diversion. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey
What you may not expect is quite how satisfying much of the film is, with Duhamel turning out to be a very good sparring partner for Heigl. Read full review
60
MovielineMichelle Orange
Despite these two actors' decent - and occasionally very charming - performances the film stacks the odds of the audience caring about Heigl and Duhamel against a narrative vacuum that favors eye candy and cheap effect over emotional logic. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicKerry Lengel
Sarah Burns steals scenes as a seemingly prim social worker, and Melissa McCarthy (Sookie on "The Gilmore Girls") does the same as a pushy neighbor. The supporting cast serves up enough small moments of surprise to keep this formula flick from falling flat. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
A more contrived and tenuous premise you would be hard-pressed to find, although, since this is a romantic comedy, suspension of disbelief comes with the territory. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Life as We Know It gives bland and predictable a good name. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
With pratfalls and teardrops, the film swings from sitcom to sit-dram. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
It's enough to say that the bland romantic comedy Life as We Know It, in which there is not a single deviation from formula, is well made for its corporate type. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleAmy Biancolli
The movie's name is Life as We Know It, but that seems incomplete. The predicate's missing. The full sentence should be "Life as we know it is over," i.e., nuked by the sudden and irreversible arrival of a human infant. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Possibly because Heigl is one of the producers, the most beautiful woman in the film -- the stunning Christina Hendricks of "Mad Men" -- dies in an off-screen car crash barely before the opening credits are over. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Pity any poor kid stuck in a house like that. Pity, too, anyone who has to stop by for a visit. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
The sisters who play Sophie are adorable. And if you happen to be a sleep-deprived parent yourself, there are worse ways to catch a two-hour nap. Read full review
40
Village VoiceKarina Longworth
The feminine fantasies Berlanti seemingly seeks to stoke are undercut by a vibe that's weirdly misogynistic. Read full review
40
Time OutLisa Rosman
Brittle, workaholic and bitterly single does not a Kate Hepburn make, and in this latest screen iteration of The Taming of the Heigl, she doesn't stray far enough from her standard rom-com shtick. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
It's the best date-night movie to hit the screens in a while, which, considering the competition, is very faint praise. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
The movie relies on the notion that postponing sex heightens arousal, but its lovers aren't any better matched post-coitus than they were before. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Cloying and at times annoying, Life as We Know It is egregiously manipulative, whoring itself out for a few unearned tears. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
So anyway, what happens in Life As We Know It? You'll never guess in a million years. Never. Read full review
38
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Sometimes I suspect there is secret high-stakes contest in Hollywood among filmmakers to try and come up with a movie without a single original idea. If so, Life As We Know It is a contender. Read full review
30
TimeRichard Corliss
Another dreadful entry in the festering form of romantic comedy: the forced intimacy of two people who have nothing in common but hatred for each other. Read full review
25
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanOct 21, 2010
At nearly two hours, the movie feels bloated. It could easily lose 30 minutes, give or take, and live. It would still not, however, live up to its title. Read full review
25
Tampa Bay TimesSteve Persall
A sitcom pilot idea stretched to feature length boredom. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The movie will surely find an audience, since it speaks to young people's anxieties about marriage and parenting. But what are two particularly engaging performers doing in a dump of a comedy like this? Read full review
16
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
There's something about Holly: She's the most ridiculous, irritating, two-dimensional rom-com heroine since...Katherine Heigl's last rom-com. Read full review
12
Rolling StonePeter Travers
This is crap as we know it, a 113 minute package of romcom suck. Read full review
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