I did NOT dislike Friends With Kids but I did not love it either. It is a finely-made/put-together film but I'll stress that there isn't anything overly special here (other than the cast). The most notable thing about it is that it (almost) features the entire (already-mentioned) cast of Bridesmaids! Equally comedic and dramatic, this is the latest writing effort from Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein, Ira & Abby ... and the longtime girlfriend of John Hamm) who decides to step behind the camera for the first-time with this one. Westfeldt also takes the lead female role and she is "okay" although I think it is fair to say she is a better filmMAKER than actress (I would have preferred seeing Maya Rudolph in the role).
The film brings to the surface the question of what happens to friends when their other long-time friends begin having children -- it is a MOST valid question as any of those friends "left behind" can attest to. People seem to seek-out people of similar tastes and interests. Once a child is born the child -- for good reason -- becomes the primary interest/focus of their lives ... although the childless are most often sacrificed for not having that NEW one common-bond any longer.
This film observes and ponders this "predicament" when two of its central characters decide to have a child together after witnessing what their childless existence has done to their relationship with their best friends. What is different with this scenario is that this pair are best-of-friends and they do not intend on staying together as lovers/parents. They just know their friend would make for an ideal "other" parent. Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein, "Notes from the Underbelly") and Adam Scott ("Parks and Recreation", The Aviator, Leap Year) play the adults believably -- their questions and concerns of what they are and/or are not doing are common and never unbelievable.
Their friends all come from relationships of varying degrees of happiness and success -- Kristen Wiig ("SNL", Bridesmaids, Whip It), Jon Hamm (Bridesmaids, "Mad Men", The Town), Maya Rudolph (Bridesmaids, "SNL", MacGruber), Chris O'Dowd (Bridesmaids, Pirate Radio) and the non-Bridesmaids-actors such as the surprisingly-decent Megan Fox (Transformers, Jennifer's Body, Jonah Hex) and Edward Burns (The Brothers McMullen, Saving Private Ryan, 27 Dresses) -- which stir-up even more questions of what a relationship is supposed to be.
There is nothing wrong with Friends with Kids ... it is just rather forgettable and not that memorable (I'm "just saying" that a few months down-the-road this film will not be easily recalled -- NOT disliked, just not clearly remembered is all). Hamm plays "jerk" nicely, Fox doesn't embarrass herself and everyone else gives a reliable/dependable performance although I would have preferred (as mentioned) Westfeldt and Rudolph switching roles.
I did have problems with the film's conclusion; but I won't get into it here as I don't want anything to be spoiled. This is a film about friends, friends and friends and it most-oftentimes succeeds at what it is wanting to say. Some critics might say it glosses over the pressures of parenthood and what it takes/means to be one; but I don't think that is the case when we see movies from Adam Sandler (etc) tackle the same theme with nary a complaint. There are some honest depictions here and Westfeldt knows what she is wanting to say ... it is just that the audience might not pick-up everything that she is wanting to say.
