Moview Review : Jennifer Lopez's "The Back-up Plan"

The The Back-up Plan feels very much like many of JLo’s previous rom-coms, Wedding Planner and Maid in Manhattan meets Tina Fey’s Baby Mama— except it’s more mature and much more humorous than the usual Jenny from the Block features.

As much as I thought I would be tempted to walk out, I was hooked early on. The characters are well developed, the lines—witty and sharp—and the slapstick humor throughout the film really engaged me. The laughs throughout the film are balanced with the more serious undertones of a single thirty-something woman’s desire to have children.

Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) is a successful corporate professional type-turned-pet- shop-owner, who has good friends, her loving grandmother Nana, a great apartment, and an adorable dog named Nuts (a handicapped Boston Terrier).


But what’s missing in her life is a family of her own, something that she’s never had since her mom died when she was young, and her father abandoned her shortly thereafter. She decides to take matters into her own hands and is artificially inseminated. As she leaves the doctor’s office she ends up meeting Mr. Right, and the rest of the story is a blend of cheese, heart, and lots of laughs…and poop… but I won’t get into that.

The film features a stellar cast, including newcomer Alex O’Loughlin in his first leading role playing Zoe’s love interest, Stan, and Saturday Night Live’s Michaela Watkins as Zoe’s best friend, Mona. I was delighted to see a cameo by the Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan as well as funnyman Anthony Anderson as an empathetic dad Stan befriends at the playground.

For a rom-com, The Back-up Plan had all of the necessary elements, and while it’s very predictable, I still found it to be a highly enjoyable experience (and no, not just because many of the scenes were shot in my neighborhood).