In the serio-comic “Friends with Kids,” two platonic friends decide to have a child of their own without the commitment to marriage so each can still seek out other partners as they’re sharing bringing up baby. After their respective friends begin having kids, Jason Fryman (a bland Adam Scott) and Julie Keller (Jennifer Westfeldt) propose having one of their own to keep in step. The close friends are: Leslie (Maya Rudolph) and Alex (Chris O’Dowd), and Ben (Jon Hamm/TV’s “Mad Men”) and Missy (Kristin Wiig/”Bridesmaids”). Time passes and after the arrival of the planned blessed event, Jason eventually meets Mary Jane whom he thinks is the one girl for him. Played by Megan Fox, she’s given little to do. Also, Julie connects with Kurt, her potential “Mr. Right” (an underused Edward Burns). Of course, the story will not end here.
Not going “by-the-numbers,” the fresh and smartly written “Friends…” takes a different route in the couples & relationships genre. It has variant plot twists in contrived, slices-of-life situations from believable to far-fetched. Writer-director Westfeldt (“Kissing Jessica Stein”) has crafted an entertaining, modern take on an adult rom-com.
