FRIENDS WITH KIDS (Jennifer Westfeldt). 107 minutes. Opens Friday (March 9). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NNN
Jennifer Westfeldt, the co-star and co-writer of 2001’s Kissing Jessica Stein, makes her directorial debut with this entirely okay comedy about two long-time pals (Westfeldt and Parks And Recreation’s invaluable Adam Scott) who impulsively decide to have a baby together without any romantic entanglements, only to find their friendship getting complicated anyway. It’s the same set-up that drove No Strings Attached and Friends With Benefits, but without the condoms.
As with Kissing Jessica Stein, the first half of Westfeldt’s script is stronger than the second – she’s far better establishing characters and situations than wrapping them up – and she still has that weird obsession with writing scenes where people tell her she’s beautiful. But the actors are appealing and talented enough to make it work.
Scott is terrific, his ironic detachment slowly sliding away into self-knowledge as his character gradually comes into focus. And Jon Hamm takes a sardonic supporting role and makes it into a complex human being, just as he did in Bridesmaids.
Speaking of Bridesmaids, that film’s co-stars, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Chris O’Dowd, are here, too, playing various friends and onlookers. They don’t have much to do, but they keep things moving along nicely.
