Hello and welcome to this film page! We are very excited to present you with our newest project – an overview of the funny comedy What to Expect When You’re Expecting. The film is perhaps not so popular now, but it was a box office hit when it came out all the way back in 2012.
Exactly 10 years later, we take a look at the movie to see if it withstood the test of time. In our opinion, it did, but we are curious to know what you think about that. After all, some comedies seem so outdated to contemporary audiences who didn’t watch them the first time and don’t share that feeling of nostalgia that our team experienced when we re-watched it.
The movie itself is supposed to be timeless at least. It tells the forever relatable story of expecting a baby and parenthood in general. The star-studded cast is one more reason to give it ago, because who doesn’t love to watch a bunch of A-listers bantering?
On this page, you can find out everything about What to Expect When You’re Expecting. This includes the staff and crew, the production budget, the box office profits, and of course, our own analysis of the film and our commentary on the reactions to the film back when it came out.
We hope you have fun reading our little overview of What to Expect When You’re Expecting and we hope even more so that you grow to like this fun comedy.
Cast and Crew
As we already mentioned, you can expect the biggest names in 2010’s Hollywood in this movie. That’s why we think it’s impossible to actually hate this movie, because there is at least one famous guy or gal in there that you like. Here’s the full cast:
- Cameron Diaz as Jules Baxter
- Matthew Morrison as Evan Webber
- Jennifer Lopez as Holly Castillo
- Rodrigo Santoro as Alex Castillo
- Elizabeth Banks as Wendy Cooper
- Brooklyn Decker as Skyler Cooper
- Ben Falcone as Gary Cooper
- Dennis Quaid as Ramsey Cooper
- Chace Crawford as Marco
- Anna Kendrick as Rosie Brennan
- Chris Rock as Vic Mac
- Rob Huebel as Gabe
- Thomas Lennon as Craig
- Amir Talai as Patel
- Rebel Wilson as Janice
- Wendi McLendon-Covey as Kara
- Dwyane Wade as himself
- Whitney Port as herself
- Megan Mullally as herself
- Cheryl Cole has as herself (talent show judge)
- Tyce Diorio as himself (talent show judge)
- Taboo as himself (talent show judge)
- Kim Fields as Renee Thompson
- Jesse Burch as Hutch Davidson
- Mimi Gianopulos as Molly
- Genesis Rodriguez as Courtney
This film wouldn’t be possible without the talented crew members. Here they are:
- Kirk Jones – Director
- Shauna Cross – Screenwriter
- Heather Hach – Screenwriter
- Mike Medavoy – Producer
- Arnold Messer – Producer
- David Twaites – Producer
- Xavier Perez Grobet – Cinematographer
- Michael Berenbaum – Editor
- Mark Mothersbaugh – Composer of the Music
Inspiration
The title of the movie might be familiar to those of you who’ve been pregnant or had a pregnant partner since What to Expect When You’re Expecting is the most popular pregnancy guidebook in the United States. The book was written by Heidi Murkoff and first published in 1984.
Murkoff wrote the book out of necessity as she couldn’t find something similar on the shelf when she was pregnant. The book includes information about pregnancy and how your body changes during it with each month. It also gives information about the postpartum period.
The book took some time to gain traction, but once it did, it was absolutely impossible. It still tops New York Times’ Bestseller list, almost 40 years later, along with lists of most influential books. Most expectant mothers in the US who read pregnancy literature start with this book.
Production
Lionsgate, the production company behind the film, acquired the rights to the book and hired then-pregnant screenwriter Heather Hach to write the script. Kirk Jones didn’t even know the book existed when he received the script. He soon realized the potential of this setting to tell hilarious stories, but also to paint a realistic picture of pregnancy and parenthood.
The casting for the film began in June 2011 and the filming a month later. The movie was shot primarily in Atlanta, Georgia. Jones had never had a project of such size that told five stories simultaneously and used hundreds of extras. He found that difficult, but in the end, we believe he did well. Once filming wrapped, the production company took the entire cast and crew to a local casino for a fun night. Online Casinos in the United States had not yet been legalized at the time of filming. However these days, you can keep up to date with the best-reviewed USA online casinos from industry experts like Online-Casinos.com.
The production budget was $37,500,000 and the film managed to make 2.4 times that in the box office. It made $41,152,203 domestically, and $47,320,813 internationally, amounting to $88,473,016 in total. Lionsgate then began selling DVD’s and BluRay’s, thus resulting in another $8,124,619.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting didn’t perform as well as the producers were hoping to, but it can still be called a success.
Analysis
The movie follows the structure of the book as it tells you about all the stages in a pregnancy, culminating in the birth of a child. Just like the book has “For Dads” sections, the experience of expectant fathers is also emphasized, such as their worries during the pregnancy and what fatherhood would be like.
While the similarities between the book and the movie are to be expected (pun intended), there is another less apparent structure that the movie follows. If you were an avid movie-goer in the early 2010’s, you know what we are talking about. It’s Gary Marshall’s trilogy of romantic comedies – Valentine’s Day (2010), New Year’s Eve (2011), and Mother’s Day (2016).
The first two features came out before What to Expect When You’re Expecting and they were widely successful in the box office; the former made four times its budget, while the latter – three. What they have in common is that they are essentially an anthology, portraying multiple stories and characters, bound by one characteristic, in this case two holidays.
While the director of What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Kirk Jones, said he used that storytelling structure because the topic is universal, yet everyone experiences it differently, we suspect he jumped on the trend that Marshall started. You have the same anthological formula with an ensemble cast filled with A-listers that made Marshall’s trilogy so popular.
Now let’s talk about the plotlines and how they come together. We have five main couples, Alex and Holly, Wendy and Gary, Rosie and Marco, Jules and Evan, and Ramsay and Skyler. Originally, there were seven in the script, but perhaps two couples were cut out to allow for the other five to be better explored.
We begin our journey with Jules and Evan who are contestants on a dance show where one celebrity is partnered with a professional dancer. Jules is the celebrity who became famous for her weight-loss show, while Evan is the dancer. Just as they’re about to lift the trophy, Jules vomits in it and becomes our first pregnant character.
Jules and Evan have only known each other for three months, or the duration of the show, which comes with its challenges. Evan is seen reading What to Expect When You’re Expecting (the only character who does), but promptly hides the book when Jules comes and later asks her not to read too much pregnancy literature. Was that simply ironic?
The next couple are Holly and Alex. Holly has reproductive issues and has failed to conceive naturally and through IVF. We applaud the creators’ choice to include a non-pregnant couple, because not everyone can conceive, but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t become parents. Instead, Holly and Alex decide to adopt.
Wendy and Gary are up next. Wendy owns a shop for baby stuff and had just written a children’s book about breast feeding, but she doesn’t have any children of her own. It’s revealed she and her husband have been trying to conceive for two years.
They only manage to once they stop actively trying. This is an old trope, which might actually be true because a few studies have shown that stress can affect conception and lead to lower chances of pregnancy.
Gary and Wendy visit Gary’s dad, Ramsay, to tell him the happy news only to find out that his 20-something stepmother, Skyler, is pregnant too. It appears that Ramsay, a famous race driver, has always competed with his son, which resembles a sibling rivalry rather than a father-son dynamic.
The last couple is Rosie and Marco. They are in their early twenties and they both own food trucks. After Marco wins a bet against Rosie, he gets to have a drink with her. We find out they had a falling out in high school, which makes Rosie suspicious of Marco’s motives.
Unfortunately for her, she has no time to think about that as she finds out she got pregnant during their drunk hookup. She is at first unsure, but later decides to keep the baby and Marco is there for her. Our issue with this couple is that no matter how attractive Anna Kendrick and Chace Crawford are, they have no chemistry and their scenes feel somehow forced.
As these five couples now expect the arrival of their babies, the initial idyllic picture suddenly crumbles.
Jules and Evan profess their love, but they barely know each other and it soon shows when they can’t agree on anything. They find out they’re expecting a boy and they start fighting about circumcision, which finds its way on the cover of a magazine, much to Evan’s annoyance.
Alex and Holly have tried to conceive for years, but it appears that Alex is not ready to have children. Holly then asks him to join a group of dads that hang out every Saturday. We find these scenes the funniest (Chris Rock rocks), but Alex doesn’t. It only makes him more afraid of fatherhood as he sees how one’s life changes. He wants to be a Davis, not a Craig.
While Wendy and Gary don’t have any arguments about parenthood and seem prepared for it, they have other personal conflicts. Ramsay keeps competing with Gary and reminding him how much better he is; Gary struggled to have a baby for two years, while his dad didn’t even try and has twins on the way.
Wendy used to be the mediator between father and soon, but she’s now also entangled in rivalry with her “mother-in-law-ish” Skyler. Wendy has always expected to have this dream pregnancy, sold to her by magazines and gurus, but finds out that these glossy depictions fail to capture the difficult parts of this experience.
Unfortunately for her, Skyler is a reminder that “easy pregnancy” exists; she doesn’t have to change the lifestyle, she’s constantly smiling and continues to wear 6-inch-heels, which further infuriates Wendy.
While these conflicts deliver the comedic promise of the film, the one concerning Rosie and Marco is different. Rosie tragically miscarries, just when she appears ready to become a mother. She pushes Marco away in the process. Although this plotline completely changes the light-hearted mood, we find its inclusion appropriate.
Recent studies have shown that miscarriages occur way more often than previously thought, but not that many movies tackle this issue, and especially not comedies. The director wanted to portray the reality of pregnancy, which might sometimes end abruptly, but it shouldn’t be a reason to give up parenthood.
Despite the many conflicts we see, the film gives everyone their happy end.
Jules and Evan agree to disagree and when they finally have their baby, it turns out it’s a girl, which makes their previous fights seem so pointless, showing that we can’t let our emotions cloud our judgement and fight for every little thing with our partner. Jules and Evan end up getting engaged.
After being told it’s the greatest thing by the other dads, Alex begins to overcome his fear of fatherhood. This fear completely evaporates when he gets to meet his son in Ethiopia. He and Holly buy their dream home where they care for little Kaleb.
Wendy’s pregnancy finally nears its end, but not before one of the most hilarious and realistic scenes as she becomes unhinged during a talk she gives. Gary and Ramsay also bond and share things the other one didn’t know about. This goes on to show that parenthood is a lifetime commitment that requires attention and care.
Skyler funnily gives birth to one of her twins as she sneezes, but her glossy pregnancy and birth are shown to result in not-so-glossy sleepless nights. Finally, Rose and Marco come together as they realize that not only pregnancy bonded them.
The different plotlines intertwine in a few ways. Most of the characters are shown to watch Jules on screen. Gary is also revealed to have been on Jules’ show, and appears in its sequel while grabbing a hot dog from Marco. Holly and Wendy know each other, which is why Skyler hired Holly for her portrait. The last connection is when Rosie tells Marco she’s Skyler’s cousin.
Commentary on the Commentary
The film received mediocre reviews from critics and movie-goers. It currently has 5.7 out of 10 stars on IMDb from over 72,000 reviews. It scores even lower on Rotten Tomatoes with rating of 23% (critics) and 47% (audience) from over 100,000 reviews.
Critics call the movie disjoined, which is not something we agree on. It’s simply that type of film. They also argue that the film is very early 2010’s with its references and humor, and thus doesn’t withstand the test of time.
We have to agree that it’s aggressively 2011/2012 and some moments made us cringe during our re-watch, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing; it’s a time capsule of sorts, there are many such films. Maybe nobody would watch it in 3012, but it’s still a sweet comedy.
The more serious critiques concern the comedy of the film itself. Is the film actually funny today? Was it funny in 2012? Some critics say no and support their thesis by bringing up the tired tropes the film portrays, along with some slapstick moments that didn’t quite hit the mark.
Sure, there are lots of tropes in the 150 minutes runtime, but ever thought that cliches are cliches for a reason? Jules’s and Evan’s arguments are common, Skyler’s and Wendy’s differing pregnancies are too. The fact that Heather Hach, the main screenwriter, was pregnant during pre-production shouldn’t be ignored.
What matters is whether movie-goers could see themselves in these characters, despite the film’s flaws. Yes, the movie could have made a better job at characterization instead of relying on slapstick so often (Jules’ and Evan’s conflict is literally only about circumcision), but in the end, it portrayed various common experiences of pregnancy and parenthood that made it relatable.
Even critics, who otherwise found the film mediocre, note that they had this warm feeling while leaving the theater and wondered how they bonded with these “incomplete” characters.
We know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and has its many flaws, but we find What to Expect When You’re Expecting to be a relatable and heart-warming film nonetheless. If you’re expecting a baby, it might be the perfect thing to cheer you up.