Life as We Know It

The big surprise in "Life as We Know It" is that it features two attractive actors we think we know pretty well from past appearances—two stars weaned on series television whose previous movie roles have largely been in formulaic, rather fluffy comedies. The marketing campaign for the new movie, starring Katherine Heigl ("Grey's Anatomy," "27 Dresses") and Josh Duhamel ("Las Vegas," "When in Rome"), would seem to indicate that this will be more of the same: total opposites who meet cute, fight with each other for half the movie, and eventually get together. And the film is that—sort of. But "Life as We Know It" is not Heigl and Duhamel as we know them, but rather a smart dramedy that follows a predictable path in unpredictable ways, eventually sucking us in, thanks to the supreme chemistry of its two leads and an engaging premise that wins us over.

Holly (Heigl) and Eric (Duhamel) are two sharp, career-driven people set up on a disastrous blind date by their mutual friends, happily married couple Allison (Christina Hendricks) and Peter (Hayes MacArthur). The married couple later become parents of a baby girl, Sophie. The only thing Holly and Eric have in common is their love for Sophie, after they are both named as godparents. That should be the end of this story, until tragedy strikes and the new parents are killed in a car accident, leaving the baby orphaned and a will naming Holly and Eric co-guardians. This unusual situation forces Holly and Eric into a temporary living arrangement for the sake of their new child. As they sort this out, Holly takes up with Sophie's nice pediatrician (Josh Lucas), Eric continues his playboy ways, and both slowly learn what it is like to be a parent.

Yes, this is all somewhat predictable, but it works in the hands of these two pros, who until now haven't been given a lot of roles with depth. This isn't Shakespeare, but director Greg Berlanti, another TV vet, knows his way around this material and never lets his stars go overboard or sink into clichés. Heigl proves she is worthy of Meg Ryan's former crown for this sort of romantic comedy. Duhamel, who cut his teeth on the soap opera "All My Children," is the breakout here, however, offering up a performance of sweet arrogant charm that melds into a three-dimensional portrait of a guy learning there is more to life than the way he has been living it. Lucas is basically here as a story device but he plays it nicely, while Hendricks and MacArthur are serviceable but out after the first couple of reels. The cast of neighbors and friends is fun, if a little too stereotypical, but this is basically Heigl and Duhamel's show, and they run with it all the way into our hearts.

Genre: Comedy. Written by: Ian Deitchman and Kristin Rusk Robinson. Directed by: Greg Berlanti. Starring: Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel, Josh Lucas, Christina Hendricks, Hayes MacArthur.