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Adam Scott, Jennifer Westfeldt, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph ... see more see more... , Chris O'Dowd , Megan Fox , Edward Burns , Lee Bryant , Kelly Bishop , Cotter Smith

Friends with Kids is a daring and poignant ensemble comedy about a close-knit circle of friends at that moment in life when children arrive and everything changes. The last two singles in the group ob... read more read more...serve the effect that kids have had on their friends' relationships and wonder if there's a better way. They decide to have a kid together - and date other people. There are big laughs and unexpected emotional truths as this unconventional 'experiment' leads everyone in the group to question the nature of friendship, family and, finally, true love. -- (C) Official Site

Flixster Users

63% liked it

22,296 ratings

Critics

64% liked it

105 critics

R, 1 hr. 40 min.

Directed by: Jennifer Westfeldt

Release Date: March 9, 2012

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DVD Release Date: July 17, 2012

Stats: 498 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (498)

  • hobster1
    May 9, 2012
    hobster1
    Friends with Kids is not without its charms. Star Jennifer Westfeldt also wrote and directed. She was responsible for co-writing and co-starring in the hit independent film Kissing Jessica Stein with Heather Juergensen in 2001. Overall Westfeldt has fashioned a humorous twist on ... read moremodern relationships. Her non-traditional take is entertaining. She brings a vulnerability that makes her character Julie likable even when she becomes self absorbed. Her flaws seem minor when contrasted with her friend Jason. He's unapologetically arrogant. Actor Jason Scott is often typecast as unlikable types and Jason is sometimes difficult to defend here. While we never question his unfailing support toward Julie, his egotistical personality can make him a bit hard to champion over the course of an entire movie. He's not a bad person. At times his humor can be endearing. It's during those moments that we understand what Julie sees in him. Jennifer Westfeldt's reflection on adults in their late 30s and having children is just captivating enough to hold our attention. While Friends with Kids occasionally lapses into superficial and predictable situations, the way the narrative plays out is frequently funny and insightful.
  • xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    April 26, 2012
    xXGiNoBiLiPRXx
    Love. Happiness. Kids. Pick two.

    Good movie. The plot is a little slow but for me it was interesting to see what was gonna happen and at few times it was funny. It's not for everyone so don't be expecting too much out of it.

    Two best friends decide to have a child together whil... read moree keeping their relationship platonic, so they can avoid the toll kids can take on romantic relationships.
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    April 14, 2012
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "Love. Happiness. Kids. Pick two."

    Two best friends decide to have a child together while keeping their relationship platonic, so they can avoid the toll kids can take on romantic relationships.

    REVIEW
    ... read more
    When does a film whose ending is a foregone conclusion fit snugly in the romantic dramedy genre? When it's called Friends with Kids, a witty, poignant, and expertly acted dramatic comedy whose only weakness is to catch the patterns of life so well that it can't claim originality but rather the charm of nailing our many flawed approaches to love. Jason (Adam Scott) and Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt, doing an excellent job of directing and writing) are best friends who decide to make their own baby while still being in the market for love. The many complications are only too apparent to their friends, who have babies of their own, but who are amazed at how well this exceptional couple have handled sharing the baby while still being "single".When the friends get together for dinner, the sparks and dialogue fly off the screen in a reprisal of '30's and '40's screwball comedy, where no human being could capture all the dialogue that randomly races around the table

    The moments of clarity are many, but the best would have to be at a dinner when Ben (John Hamm) drunkenly tells Jason how unrealistic his dream of parental singularity is given the needs of the child years from now when it tries to figure out the relationship between love and his parents' conceiving him without it. Ben's retort about his deep respect and affection for Julie completes a dialogue that Plato would have loved. Those moments of truth mingled with the joys of being young parents, and the difficulties therein, are what give this ensemble cred for spot-on performances, for knowing that bringing up baby is not always fun but has the heft of integrity and sincerity about it. While the expected ending comes a bit too slowly, I felt the ring of truth in players being uncertain what path to take and changing their minds appropriately. As all parents know, it's rough out there.
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    April 4, 2012
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    A rather slight comedy but a consistently authentic and likable one. Director/ star Jennifer Westfeldt ("Kissing Jessica Stein") and Adam Scott are two very strong, atypical leads and are supported by an impressive ensemble including Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'... read moreDowd, and Edward Burns. It may not be the most original or even unpredictable of romantic comedies, but it's charm and humor should win just about anyone over.
  • fb100001048934982
    March 26, 2012
    fb100001048934982
    A brilliantly executed romantic comedy that is as funny as it is honest. The cast is amazing in each in every role, and you can't help but love the mini-Bridesmaids reunion. Writer-Director-Star Jennifer Westfeltd's talent is obvious, and she pours great charm and wit into the hi... read morelarious and poignant script. This is a rom-com done right.
  • Julie
    March 20, 2012
    Julie
    I had somehow thought this was a bit more of a serious flick, but it's actually just a sweet, well-acted rom-com.
  • sanjurosamurai
    March 12, 2012
    sanjurosamurai
    an amazing cast takes a serious dump. the film was not what it should have been. it looked like a film about 6 friends played by interesting actors, but it was a film about 2 people who happened to be played by the least interesting of the actors and the other 4 more interestin... read moreg performers played nothing more than background archetypes thrown in to propel stereotypical circumstance in an attempt to bolster the story line. the cast was wasted. it looked to be about parenthood and family, but it was just a romance story about two fickle adults and the family story lines were relegated to mere examples of why the screen writer (westfeldt) finds family to be nothing more than a burden. it looked like a dramedy, but was more drama/romance as it wasnt very funny. it looked to be a story about love, but the love presented here is such a twisted version of the real thing. if this had been a film about 6 people doing life together, it might have worked, but as it is its nothing more than a critique of the life some of us actually enjoy with a few subtle shots of religious bigotry thrown in.
  • fb720603734
    March 4, 2012
    fb720603734
    FRIENDS WITH KIDS is what happens when you have smart people trying to elevate the same-old-same-old. As hard as they try and as talented as they are, when this film bows to the rom-com traditions, which it does in those last excruciating 20 minutes, I literally made "air leakin... read moreg out of tires" sounds from my seat. I don't know. I'm usually quiet, but I couldn't help myself.

    A shame, since I enjoyed the hell out of the first hour or so. A story of two friends who decide to have a baby together without the complications of a romantic relationship, Jennifer Westfeldt (who wrote and directed as well) and Adam Scott are appealing and vivid, but I couldn't help but feel Westfeldt should have let Kristen Wiig take the lead. While Westfeldt is charming in a Diane Keaton sorta way, Wiig, who is wasted here in a sad sack role, would have brought some much-needed crazy to the part. The rest of the supporting cast does good work, but nobody, with the exception of Jon Hamm, gets a knockout moment. In a startling dinner scene, Hamm, who in real life is married to Westfeldt and also produced, unleashes some brutal truths on the situation while also demonstrating how much his marriage to Wiig has died. It's a strong, perfectly calibrated scene and allows this film to rise above its cliches.

    Our lead couple remain platonic for as long as the paint-by-numbers story allows, because they see their friends' marriages ruined after having kids. Their friends, played by BRIDESMAIDS' Chris O'Dowd, Maya Rudolph and the aforementioned Wigg and Hamm, tend to languish in scenes involving lots of noise, scattered toys and frayed nerves, i.e. nothing you haven't seen on any random episode of PARENTHOOD or MODERN FAMILY. We get it! Parenting is hard!!

    [MILD SPOILER IN NEXT PARAGRAPH]

    Because of the skill level involved here and the shading the cast brings to underwritten roles, I had hoped that the film would wrap up with something a little more interesting to say. Instead, we get the same old racing through the streets to save a relationship, professions of love, and what is possibly the most embarrassing and desperate last line of a movie I've ever heard. It's trying so hard to be edgy here that it forgets to be interesting. Remedy? Lop off the last 20 minutes and have our lead characters face a bittersweet and unknown future together where they discover that their mistakes might just have as many consequences as those of their friends.
  • jeffboam
    March 30, 2012
    jeffboam
    A friend with many benefits and only one debit, Friends with Kids makes for funny but heart-tugging filmgoing. The ensemble cast bears out a wonderful script that rings truer than most kid-centered rom-coms (let's face it, The Back-Up Plan and The Switch never really delivered). ... read moreWriter/director Jennifer Westfeldt, however, has birthed a winning let's-make-a-baby comedy that plays out like an organic independent flick even with its ace big budget cast. True, the audience will be coloring the dots in their head before the leads even shown their faces, but they will still makes friends with the honest and warm end result.

    In this R-rated dramedy, two platonic friends (Scott, Westfeldt) decide to have and share custody of a baby much to the chagrin of their married and miserable friends (Kristen Wiig, John Hamm, Maya Rudolph, Chris O'Dowd) and lovers (Megan Fox, Ed Burns).

    Just as with her comedy Kissing Jessica Stein, Westfeldt puts out a great premise that gets tripped up only by inevitability. Stein posited that someone could try being gay because straight-hood didn't work out, but, from the get-go, it's obvious that this way of life is just being used as a plot device for a predictable curtain-closer. Here too, she uses friends having kids as a plot device even though it's clear where it's headed from the opening credits. With a cast that includes Scott (NBC's Parks and Recreation), Wiig (Bridesmaids), Hamm (AMC's Mad Men), Rudolph (Bridesmaids), O'Dowd (Dinner for Schmucks), Fox (Transformers), and Burns (Man on a Ledge), filmgoers will still go baby crazy.

    Bottom line: And baby makes glee.
  • SC007
    March 25, 2012
    SC007
    Home run for Jennifer Westfeldt. She made a really good film here, even better than Kissing Jessica Stein. The film kind of reminded me of movies like Trust the Man and Life As We Know It. The script is really good and the film is excellently casted.

    Everyone in the cast shines... read more. Jennifer reminds me of a young Mia Farrow or Diane Keaton in this film. Adam Scott reminds me a lot of Luke Wilson in this film. Scott and Jennifer have a great on screen chemistry.

    The only flaw with the film is that it is predictable. However, despite that flaw the film is very funny and entertaining. I definitely recommend this movie.

View All Friends With Kids Reviews

Critic Reviews

Roger Moore
March 23, 2012
Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Friends with Kids doesn't reinvent the parenting romantic comedy. But every now and then, it's good to have a fresh take on why nobody "beats the system" and gets away with it. Full Review

Dana Stevens
March 9, 2012
Dana Stevens, Slate

Pleasant but overfamiliar. Full Review

Lisa Kennedy
March 9, 2012
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

Sitcom-amusing, in that middle-of-the-road way. Full Review

Peter Rainer
March 9, 2012
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

It's the kind of cutesy idea that doesn't ring remotely true. Full Review

Richard Roeper
March 9, 2012
Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com

This is a sharp, funny, touching and utterly winning slice of New York. Full Review

Rafer Guzman
March 9, 2012
Rafer Guzman, Newsday

[A] crass, shallow cash-in. Full Review

Stephen Whitty
March 9, 2012
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

Imagine - a romantic comedy that's actually both. It's been a long, long time. Full Review

Liam Lacey
March 9, 2012
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

Whom is this movie for, really? It's too tame for the whooping crowds of women who made hits of the Sex and the City movies and Bridesmaids. And for sure it isn't for parents with kids. Full Review

Elizabeth Weitzman
March 9, 2012
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

[Westfeldt] makes a promising directorial debut with this good-natured dramedy, boosted in large part by an outstanding ensemble. Full Review

Tom Long
March 9, 2012
Tom Long, Detroit News

"Friends with Kids" goes on a beat or two too long, and lands in the obvious place, but it's filled with smarts and laughs and passion. Full Review

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