10
Sep
September 10, 2012
Babies, babies, and more babies. What to Expect When You’re Expecting is jam-packed with heart-touching stories of expectant parents. This comedy includes stars such as Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, Chase Crawford, Matthew Morrison, Dennis Quaid, and Chris Rock. Surprisingly though, this movie isn’t filled with all the punch lines and witty comments about the surprises of parenthood; instead it focuses more on the emotional trauma and fears of becoming a parent.
While most of the characters in the film have children through their own labor, one couple decided to adopt. After failed attempts of getting pregnant herself, Jennifer Lopez’ character and her husband come to the realization that the only way they will be able to have a child is through adoption. The movie does a pretty decent job of providing the audience with a realistic portrayal of adoption. The realities of what really go on in the mind of the adoptive parents is shown in the husband’s fear of the child not liking him and him not being able to be a good father. The film is almost completely accurate in its depictions. We see the walk through and interviewing of the couple as an adoption agent makes sure that they are eligible to adopt, we hear the fears of the husband, and we understand his worry that he didn’t immediately fall in love with the child just by seeing his picture. However, unlike adoptions in reality that can take years to finalize, this couple gets “lucky” and are able to travel to adopt their child within a few months. The swiftness of it all was very over-dramatized and I think took away from the “realness” of the film.
Overall this a great film to see if you want a little taste of the realities of parenthood. Parenthood won’t be perfect, in fact it may seem impossible, and “the glow” may not be completely true, you may not really know what you are doing, but most of all, it is all worth it.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting comes out on dvd and Blu-Ray on Tuesday, September 11, 2012.
For more information about MLJ Adoptions’ international adoption programs, please click here.