Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Friends with Kids Blu-ray Movie Review

Finally, a romcom with brains.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 14, 2012

Anyone who tries to tell you that having kids isn’t fraught with peril is most likely—childless. As monumental a change as getting married is, it’s child’s play (no pun intended) compared to having and raising children. There is of course a fundamental change in perspective from “I” to “we” when you get married (or enter into any kind of committed relationship), but there’s nothing quite like the “them” of having kids, as most parents will aver. My wife and I didn’t have our sons until we were both in our 30s, something not all that unusual for people of our generation, but even though we’re not the oldest parents in our social circle, by the time we had our kids, several of our friends had already started having theirs. It’s definitely a weird social dynamic when couples get together and some of them have children while others don’t. That’s one of the core issues that is initially explored in Friends With Kids (and perhaps one of two inferences one can make about what the title actually means), but it’s to this film’s immense credit that this isn’t the main focus. Friends With Kids has perhaps been unfairly lumped into a recent glut of romcoms, and it certainly bears some notable similarities with a number of recent films, even some without Jennifer Aniston. But this film, written, produced, directed by and starring Jennifer Westfeldt, is one of the more intelligent comedies with a romantic subtext that’s come down the pike in some time. People who saw the credits and saw Kristen Wiig, Jon Hamm, Chris O'Dowd and Maya Rudolph as co-stars might have thought this would be another raucous Bridesmaids wannabe, but this is a much more measured, mature and at times surprisingly serious look at what raising children means in today’s world of a rapidly changing social fabric.

Westfeldt portrays Julie, a late-thirties New York City professional who just happens to be BFFs with her downstairs neighbor, Jason (Adam Scott). Jason and Julie (or Jase and Jules as they’re known throughout much of the film) have known each other since their late teen years and have the sort of easy rapport that comes from decades of knowing each other without the complications of any sexual chemistry between them. In fact the film opens with a little vignette of them talking to each other on the phone as they each have a one night stand sleeping in the other half of their respective beds. That nicely sets up the parameters of their relationship, and if it just slightly (or even more than slightly) strains credulity, it’s played to perfection by Westfeldt and Scott.

Jason and Julie are part of a social group that includes two married couples. Ben (Jon Hamm, Westfeldt’s real life partner) and Missy (Kristen Wiig) are known to disappear regularly for twenty minute assignations in a variety of public places, while Alex (Chris O’Dowd) and Leslie (Maya Rudolph) have seemed to settle into a comfortable relationship that consists of gentle jabs at each other. The six friends meet at a tony New York restaurant where Jason starts complaining about out of control kids at a nearby table, which leads to Leslie’s revelation that she’s pregnant.

Flash forward four years. Both sets of married couples now have at least one kid, and Julie is feeling her biological clock ticking and Jason seems to have some sadness as well that he’s not a parent. Both of their prospects seem slim, however, and with Jason’s help Julie starts to fantasize about how “great” divorced people have it, since they’ve already had their kids and are now free to find their soul mate. That leads the two to propose a somewhat unusual arrangement: why don’t they go ahead and make a baby together, sharing custody, but with no real attraction between them, leaving them both free to pursue finding true love.

The rest of Friends With Kids plays out with Jase and Jules feeling their way along in their shared parenting arrangement while the marriages of Ben and Missy and Alex and Leslie weather several storms. Along the way, Jason manages to hook up with an improbably gorgeous dancer in the long running Broadway musical Chicago (played by Megan Fox), while Julie seems to have found her perfect man in a Brooklyn construction executive (Edward Burns). But of course one of the fundamentals of romantic comedy is that there are two people who are obviously meant for each other but don’t quite know how to “get there”, and Friends With Kids is probably at its most formulaic in following that well worn path. To its credit, however, the film manages to take several unexpected detours before a predictable ending.

Westfeldt’s writing is extremely sharp throughout this enterprise, with finely drawn characters and dialogue that is natural and nicely observant. The film manages to be both laugh out loud funny at several key junctures as well as rather surprisingly serious at others, especially in an incredibly tense scene at a Vermont ski lodge where Ben has a bit too much to drink and lets loose on the unorthodox arrangement between Jason and Julie. It’s really interesting to see Hamm playing such a completely unlikable role, one certainly darker than even Don Draper. Wiig’s role here is really little more than a cameo, but she’s called upon to do some of her first real dramatic acting, and she’s certainly up to the task. The comedy relief here is largely in the capable hands of Rudolph and Scott. Both essay their slightly smart- alecky characters with enough finesse to keep them from becoming cartoons.

Friends With Kids can’t quite evade some of its self-imposed romcom tropes, but the good news here is that the film dares to be at least a little different in its formulations and how it gets to its expected conclusion. The film is very intelligently written and wonderfully performed (though I can’t help but comment about Westfeldt’s very feline appearance). This isn’t a perfect film by any stretch, but in an era of cookie cutter romcom outings, it’s nice to see one that at least partially breaks out of the mold.

Friends with Kids Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Friends With Kids is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Director Westfeldt and cinematographer William Rexer utilize the New York locations very well (though a couple of establishing shots seem to have been sourced from stock footage), and the result is a sparkling visual valentine to Manhattan and environs. This high definition transfer is exceedingly sharp and clear, with beautifully saturated color and abundant fine object detail. There are some passing stability issues here and there (note Hamm's tweed jacket in one scene, which dissolves into shimmer and moiré), but any other artifacts are pleasantly few and far between. Contrast and black levels are both very strong.

Friends with Kids Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Friends With Kids features a nicely done DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that may not be overwhelmingly immersive due to the film's penchant for dialogue scenes, but which manages to fill the surrounds with a variety of source cues and occasional ambient environmental sounds. What this mix does effortlessly is open up group scenes so that a feeling of sonic community is well established, even without "wow" discrete channel placement. Since so many scenes here involve up to six people, there is some nice panning of dialogue, but the most consistent use of the rear channels especially comes from the source cues. Fidelity is very strong though dynamic range is somewhat limited.

Friends with Kids Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Jennifer Westfeldt, Jon Hamm and William Rexer. This is a great little commentary that is both beautifully conversational but also nicely informative. While the three do tend to react to what's going on on screen, more often than not that opens up nice windows into the film's production and shooting (Rexer was the film's DP).


• Making Friends With Kids (HD; 8:10) is a standard EPK with interviews, scenes from the film and some behind the scenes footage.


• Ad-libs and Bloopers (HD; 11:55) is divided into two sets, one with the adults, the other with the kids.


• Scene 42: Anatomy of a Gag (HD; 5:06) is a kind of interesting little piece that shows how the scene departs from the written script, and then shows various takes full of ad-libs. There's also an optional commentary with Westfeldt, Hamm and Rexer.


• MJ Rocks at Video Games (HD; 3:49) is a fun look at Megan Fox teaching Adam Scott how to play the Gears of War video game. This has an optional commentary by Westfeldt, Hamm and Rexer as well.


• Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary (HD; 8:17)

Friends with Kids Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Friends With Kids breaks away from the standard Jennifer Aniston issue romcom to deliver something considerably sharper, albeit with some of the typical tropes of this idiom firmly intact. Westfeldt is obviously a multi-hyphenate to keep an eye on. Her writing is precise, her directorial hand is firm and as a producer she's cobbled together a very impressive cast, all of whom do great work. This Blu-ray offers great video and audio and comes with some appealing supplemental material. Recommended.