LIFE HAPPENS DVD (2011)

SYNOPSIS: Krysten Ritter, Kate Bosworth and Rachel Bilson star in this sharp and witty comedy about single living, friendship and the joys of life's curveballs. When a one-night-stand results in an unexpected pregnancy, things take a sudden turn for Kim (Ritter) and her roommates, Deena (Bosworth) and Laura (Bilson). Jumping back into the dating scene, Kim copes with single motherhood amid fears that toting a tot will be a dating buzz-kill. Costarring Jason Biggs, Justin Kirk and Kristen Johnston.

MOVIE REVIEW:

It seems like the Superman’s curse has landed upon Kate Bosworth, her career didn’t exactly soar after being Lois Lane. In fact, she has almost dropped off the spotlight judging from her career choices lately.  

In this indie flick, Bosworth plays Deena, a writer who is waiting for her big break and shared a house with two other roommates, Kim (Krysten Ritter), a dog walker and Laura (Rachel Bilson) who simply can’t decide what she is going to do. Deena and Kim have been BFFs since college while the story never mentioned anything about how they hooked up with Laura. A one night stand with an Australian surfer dude resulted in an unplanned pregnancy for Kim and little Max becomes sort of a threatening tool to their once flourishing friendship.

“Life Happens” is a pale shadow to Judd Apatow’s stuff liked “Bridesmaids” and “Knocked Up”. It trends on similar topics but director/writer Kat Coiro and co-writer Ritter has troubles turning it into something less generic and cliché. Kim and Deena are the typical female versions of boy-men, ladies who just want to have fun, responsibilities for them come later. But for Kim, responsibility did materialize in the form of Baby Max and the dear boy caused a strain on Kim’s dream, love life and also the juggling of babysitting duties among the three roommates. The message is clear enough however Kim’s romance with her suitor, Nicolas (Geoff Stults) seems to drag on like forever. The constant frustration, crying and tempers flare faced by Deena and Kim probably appeal to the feminine crowd than the guys.

There are a couple of gags, sharp lines and feature a cameo from Jason Biggs, more popular known as Jim from American Pie. Some humour work but mostly they don’t really matter. Liked Laura’s constant job changing and her appearance on some reality program “America’s Last Virgin”, Kim’s irritable boss Francesca and Deena’s random sex pursuits which makes you wonder what other material they could have come up with instead of relying on these cheap gags.  

Krysten Ritter’s screen presence is likeable enough and dear Kate Bosworth seems to have aged a little since Lois Lane. Sorry for that superficial comment but I have to add that Bosworth clearly has the ability to take on a stronger script. “Life Happens” as entertaining as it was just doesn’t deliver beyond an ordinary feminine sitcom. Like what the opening credits shown, Sh** Happens.       

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Visual on the whole is decent for this indie flick and the Dolby Digital 2.0 audio soundtrack is clear enough for both the pop songs and dialogue output in the movie.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee