THE BACKUP PLAN

US, 2010, 104 minutes, Colour.
Jennifer Lopez, Alex O' Loughlin, Eric Christian Olsen, Anthony Anderson, Melissa Mc Carthy, Tom Bosley, Linda Lavin.
Directed by Alan Poul.

This may be one of the screenplays that Jennifer Aniston turned down. And she would have been more effective in it than Jennifer Lopez – though Jennifer Lopez was pregnant with and gave birth to twins in real life.

The first premiss of films like this remind us of what a topsy turvy world we live in, especially in the personal morality areas. Zoe (Lopez) desperately wants to have children, the clock is ticking, she doesn't think any of her men friends would make good fathers, so in a consumerist culture, she goes out and buys some sperm and has herself inseminated. She also joins a support group for single mothers. (The advertising makes the point about falling in love, getting married, having a baby but not in that order.)

Having made this decision and relying on support group rather than father or father-figure, she goes and falls in love with a handsome stranger (Alex O' Loughlin) who got in one side of the cab she hailed as she got in the other. Fate brings them together again and the film turns into a romantic comedy, punctuated by a lot of detail of pregnancy, physical health and bodily functions. After seeming to fall out with her group, after being wary about trusting Stan, after being urged on by her nana (an energetic senior about to be married to a 93 year old in the home – played by Linda Lavin and Tom Bosley), after getting a lot of pep talks, Zoe turns the film into a pro baby, pro love, pro marriage comedy.

1. Variation on romantic comedy? Babies, love, marriage – in that order?

2. The title, a character called Zoe, meaning life? Her life, wanting pregnancy, her plan?

3. The American city settings, apartments, the streets, hospitals, gynaecologists? The musical score?

4. Jennifer Lopez as Zoe, age, isolated, her hopes, enquiries, procedures, not relying on the father, the sperm bank?

5. The procedure, her meeting Stan, the taxi, the credibility of the instant relationship, falling in love, clashes, marriage?

6. The expense of pregnancy, the support group – and the various members?

7. The birth scene, long, illustrating pains of birth?

8. Zoe’s background, the grandmother, the nursing home, preparing to marry, the 93-year-old room, the ceremony?

9. Stan, his character, background, cheese, academic? The discussions with his friend at the playground, prospect of kids?

10. The blend of sentiment, comedy, the message – how successful for its audience?