Movie Review - Bible Based: The Back-up Plan

This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.

Sticker Shock

Plot Overview

At the age of eight she lost her mom to illness and her dad to irresponsibility. Her independent Nana raised her to be a strong woman, and she went to college on the executive track. After graduation Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) and her boyfriend went their separate ways, and she became a success in an Internet company, but she is woefully behind at having prospects for starting a family. Limiting herself to one boyfriend limited her opportunities, as author Paul Landis writes In Defense of Dating:

It is quite logical to believe that some kind of dating is necessary to the development of the judgment and pair interaction that is at the root of real objectivity in mate selection. Those who have dated more than one person have a chance to compare and to learn some of the usual behavior patterns of members of the opposite sex. They learn to distinguish between those whose personalities seem to promise a durable compatibility and those whose personalities obviously do not. Dating is an exploratory experience through which young people learn. In most circles today, therefore, it is considered desirable that young people “circulate” rather than “go steady” from the beginning, that some variety of dating experience is favorable to ultimate mate choice. The girl who is considered desirable as a date by a number of fellows is presumed to be the one most likely to be sought after in marriage. (223)

Change of plan. She left the corporate world and took the stock option to buy a pet store figuring more nurturing work would make her more appealing to more guys. The BSDs would have been latched onto by college girls who'd played their cards better; the best ones were taken. Now she had some exploring to do. Authoresses Carmen Renee Berry et al advise about Sport Dating.

While the concept of quantity dating may seem overwhelming or even impossible for sheer lack of men, one quality of sport dating may help everyone who is frustrated in finding a satisfactory relationship. A positive aspect of sport dating is that it is fun. It may seem that if you are not sure “he's the one,” that you cannot spend time with him. However, as one grown woman was told by her mother, “Lighten up! When I was dating, my friends and I went out with several men, and no one demanded that you be exclusive right away. This doesn't have to be so deadly serious. Have some fun!” (19)

praying baby Having done that she finds, “I've dated hundreds of guys over the past five years; it just hasn't worked.” These things take time. She has just reached the point where she drops the argument with a random guy who hailed the same cab as she did and lets him have it. Guys prefer to be the leader of the pack in any family they start. She is now ready to get any one of the many men in New York who could be suitable for her. But she jumps the gun (“Oh, God, I hope this works”) and gets artificially inseminated, walks out of the doctor's office on cloud nine, and hails a cab.

Cupid's dart RUSH dwarf goat Handsome Stan (Alex O'Loughlin) is a real schlemiel. In Europe he married a Swede, opened a B&B w/her in Vermont, which went bust, got divorced, dropped out of college, is saddled with debt, took over running his parents' upstate goat farm when they retired to Arizona, is in night school now, and sells cheese at a New York open air market. The lady he meets while hailing a cab is responsive to his advances, but he's caught up short when he finds out she's newly knocked up. His priorities take a hit along the lines of a Kingsley West western:

For every man it is a woman of his own, a house of his own and the need to work for what goes on in that house. All the plans for the future are written around those three. There is never anything else and the three things never vary. Acceptance of life is the means of perfecting it. (70)

Ideology

senior bus Zoe has a pet Boston bull terrier named Nuts that begs throughout the movie portending demands soon to come. (Prov. 30:15-16) “The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.” There are two kinds of definitive dependents (“crying, Give, give”): the very young—out from the womb, and they keep coming—and the very old—heading for the grave, and they keep leaving. As Harry Mulisch writes:

Werker realized that everywhere in the city children were constantly being born, to replace those who were dying—an unnameable process hidden behind walls, a flywheel with the capacity of the earth orbiting the sun. (69)

fishes When the ancient worldwide flood drained away leaving “the earth that is not filled with water,” the planet was able to establish a productive ecology. As authoress Donna Howell puts it (from Job 38:8, Job 38:26-27):

Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? [Shutting the “doors” to the sea denotes God's majestic ability to limit Earth's waters so the planet will not fall prey to perpetual flooding. “When it brake forth” is considered by many to refer to a time Earth was flooded, and of course, most assume this to be Noah's Flood. To Gap theorists, this entire speech is a reference to an epoch more ancient than Noah; it glances back to the “deep” of Genesis 1:2.] To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? (113)

(Psalm 65:9-13) “Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing.”

Here corn refers to any kind of dominant grain, not just what we're used to. As Gudmundur Kamban illustrates, “On the second day the Scottish runners brought various sorts of corn. There was wild rye with a large and hard kernel, but over-ripe; some spikes which Tryker was inclined to identify as wild wheat—” (234–5). Stan's farm had pastures for the horses & goats. He made stacks of pancakes for breakfast. A lady friend of his sold muffins at the market. A van there was labeled BREAD ALONE. There's plenty of bread to be made from God's abundant earth.

nursing baby men's dance line “The fire that saith not, It is enough.” That's human metabolism burning day and night all the time, and it has to be fed. Zoe says, “I wanted a family. Nana's not gonna live forever, and then it'll just be me.” Stan if he marries Zoe will have to provide for her burgeoning family and care for Nana's fiancé Arthur (Tom Bosley) whom she's about to marry—he's 93, on oxygen, and uses a walker. As West put it, “A man thinking of getting himself a woman needs money. You'd be surprised how much it takes” (111). A Conga line that collapses in on itself expresses a long sequence of people who experience a disruption.

Production Values

“” (2010) was directed by Alan Poul. It was written by Kate Angelo. It stars Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin. Lopez and O'Loughlin have some good opening chemistry together while they struggle with circumstances. There are several subplots dovetailing nicely with the main thread. The secondary parts hold up well. The doc and the dog steal the show when either is on.

MPA rated it PG–13 for sexual content including references, some crude material and language. It's not kid-friendly. Pacing was good, the plot easy to follow. The farm scenes were bucolic. Some outtakes play over the end credits. Runtime is 1¾ hours.

Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation

integrated pool Comedian Anthony Anderson played a black dad teaching his boys in a white park not to come across like filthy pickaninnies. He set the example for responsible parenting that has its own unique rewards. Taking responsibility is touted here though responsible sex is not exactly the movie's forte. Abstinence anybody?

I found the movie funny as it explored various side trails circling the main plot. It was written quite well and adequately acted. The gross scenes were mercifully edited.

Movie Ratings

Action Factor: Weak action scenes. Suitability for Children: Suitable for children 13+ years with guidance. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Good for Groups. Suspense: A few suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.

Works Cited

Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software. Print.

Allen, Dr. Patricia and Sandra Harmon, Staying Married … and Loving It. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1997. As quoted in Berry.

Berry, Carmen Renee and Tamara Traeder. Girlfriends Talk About Men. Berkeley: Wildcat Canyon Press, 1997. Print.

Kamban, Gudmundur, I See a Wondrous Land. London: Nicholson and Watson Limited, 1938. Print.

Landis, Paul H. Making the Most of Marriage. New York: Meredith Publishing, 1965. Print.

Movie: The Back-up Plan

Bible Based Review