The Back-up Plan

Whenever Jennifer Lopez appears on the marquee of a film I immediately take a star off of my rating.  Coming into The Backup Plan handicapped is like a jerk midget with a pulled hamstring checking into an NBA game.  You didn’t like him before he entered the game and you’re actually kind of happy that he’s at even more of a disadvantage.
   There’s not much point in focusing on the plot so I’ll lay it out in a nutshell before I crack it.  Lopez plays Zoe, a thirty-something who gets artificially inseminated because she just wants to have a baby.  If it wasn’t so awkward seeing Jlo in stirrups with a doctor prodding her vagina I might have laughed.  She’s having the happiest day of her life until she runs into Stan (Alex O’Loughlin) in what has to be one of the worst first love meetings of all time.  I’ll break it down for you.
Zoe gets into a cab.  Stan gets in the other side.  They argue about whose cab it is.  They both get out.  The cab drives away.
   …moving on
Zoe then falls in love with Stan and the two struggle with the idea of commitment in the face of such an unorthodox situation.
   The Backup Plan is a cornucopia of cliché.  There are chance encounters, light string orchestra music, faux witticisms, awkward moments (loaded phrase), and dates gone wrong.  There’s then of course the obligatory breakup over a misunderstanding and the equally vexing makeup.  The one positive of all this is that we barely notice Jenifer Lopez’s acting.  I’m not the first to say it, but someone needs to tell her to quit.  Either that or someone can pay Lindsay Lohan to break her legs.  I think she needs the cash
If all the predictability wasn’t enough there’s a brutally disgusting birth scene that needs to come with a disclaimer.  I’m not just saying this as a guy either.  After seeing the birth scene in The Last Exorcism I would have felt more comfortable in the middle of backwoods Louisiana surrounded by cultists than be where Jlo and O’Loughlin were.  Gives me chills just thinking about it. 
  Just like that midget, don’t give this movie a chance.  Not only is it not worth your time, but you’d be supporting Jennifer Lopez’s acting career so think before you rent.

By Clarissa Andersen

After a four-year hiatus from the acting world, Jennifer Lopez makes her return to the big screen in the romantic comedy The Back-Up Plan.
    This film tells the story of a woman who conceives a child through artificial insemination (her “back up plan”) on the exact day she meets the man of her dreams.
Hitting all of the “make your husband yawn/cringe” markers, including an incredibly disturbing water birth scene, this overtly “chick flick” barely makes the women in the audience laugh.
  Though there were a few funny and sentimental moments that made you root for ruggedly handsome Stan (played by Alex O'Loughlin) , the film was severely lacking in the believability and relatable categories. That is, if one can ever really believe in the terribly formulaic plotlines of films like Pretty Woman and Sleepless in Seattle.
  While the film certainly doesn’t live up to the classics in its genre,  it isn’t without a certain charm. Though many feel J-Lo should exit the entertainment world, I believe this is right where she belongs. With her quirky personality, and classic beauty, Lopez is a great choice when you just cannot afford Sandra Bullock, or her agent won’t even let her read the script.
  Though this film wasn’t the most terrible romantic comedy on the planet (that title might belong to the musical disaster From Justin to Kelly), it really didn’t do much for me, and even less for my husband who kindly agreed to go.

The Back-up Plan starring J-Lo might be one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

I'm a girl, and normally I'm a sucker for cute romance movies. However, this one was way too predictable, and the actual story would never happen in real life.

Here's the plot, sorry guys, yes I'm going to spoil everything, but it's not like you wouldn't be able to predict it if you started watching it anyways!

Jennifer Lopez plays Zoe, a girl who has never found "the one" and think she's never going to find a husband and start a family. So, she wants to make her own baby. Smart, right? Just go to the doctor and use a random sperm doner, and whabam! J-Lo got preggo.

However, of course she ended up just running into the man of her dreams in a random cab. Once they met, the guy automatically liked her. In real life, this would never happen. As if that romance wasn't enough, of course Zoe ran into mr. loverboy a second time.
They end up going on a bunch of very lame dates. Eventually, they have sex, and she decides to tell him she's actually pregnant. He decides to stay with her. At the end, she ends up having cute twin babies, and the man asks her to marry him.

Throughout the movie, you will get to witness a bunch of really bad acting, and some disgusting scenes(including Zoe's dog eating her pregnancy test, then Zoe finding the plus sign in the dog's throw up, a little boy holding a piece of poop, Zoe stuffing her face with disgusting food in order to control her cravings, Zoe searching through a dumpster to find a pillow she likes sleeping with and a woman from a single mothers support group giving live birth in a kiddie swimming pool).

I think I've said enough. Having watched this movie, I think I can wait a long while until I decide to have babies. The only good thing about the movie might be the numerous shots of J-Lo's butt.

Half a star out of four

-Addy Stamenova