Plan B

Greetings again from the darkness. The seeds of some of the best comedies are sown in real life scenarios and take advantage of the awkward reactions of everyday folks. The first feature film from writer-director Brandon Tamburri and co-writer Jean S Monpere takes on a cringeworthy situation that likely happens more frequently than we'd expect: a drunken woman sleeps with a guy and ends up pregnant from the encounter. Her decision tree is questionable leading to drama with real world ramifications. To make this palatable, the filmmakers take a comedic approach.

Jamie Lee ("Crashing") stars as Piper, the above-referenced drunken woman who bumps into her neighbor, Evan Ebert, as she stumbles back home from a night of partying. Most movie goers probably haven't seen Jon Heder on screen since NAPOLEON DYNAMITE (2004), although he has worked regularly and often since. Many will be surprised when he pops up as nice guy (and yes, quite quirky) Evan, the initially lucky neighbor in this scenario. Evan is the kind of guy who introduces himself as "a certified Uber driver", has a pet named Cat Sajak, and has had a quiet crush on Piper for quite some time. In contrast, Piper is the kind who, when she finds out she's pregnant, decides not to tell Evan he's going to be a father, and instead begins scouting for a more acceptable 'Baby Daddy'.

In order to reduce the disgusting nature of Piper's plan, comedy is infused into most every scene. Piper's roommate Maya (Subhah Agarwal, writer on "The Jim Jeffries Show") acts as a bit of conscience for her friend, yet is unsuccessful in talking her out of it. Cameron (Michael Lombardi), a regular customer at the coffee shop where Piper works, is handsome and successful, and due to the necessarily tight timeline, becomes the target of Piper's plan. Again, know that this is mostly played for laughs, including Shannon Elizabeth (AMERICAN PIE, 1999) as Cameron's 'cheesecake' loving inappropriate boss; Kate Flannery ("The Office") as the publisher who is interested in Piper's Instagram "I Spy Love"; and Tom Berenger (with blindingly white teeth) and Suzanne Savoy as Cameron's parents.

If the above description wasn't enough, nice guy Evan also volunteers to accompany Piper to her Lamaze class ... administered by a tough guy played by former NFL player Vernon Davis. Again, all of the inappropriate and insincere aspects of the story (and Piper's actions) are delivered with comedic intentions - most in an exaggerated manner. Of course, we all know how this is going to end, so it really comes down to whether you can accept the humor and the personal growth shown by Piper.

Available on VOD and Digital on September 27, 2024.

I decided to watch this movie after seeing all of the funny people who are in it. Jon Heder from Napoleon Dynamite is the male lead. Then Shannon Elizabeth (Jay and Silent Bob, American Pie, Scary Movie) and Kate Flannery (Meredith from the Office) play supporting roles. I honestly wasn't familiar with the female lead, Jamie Lee but she was really funny and was a believable partner for Jon Heder. The NFL player Vernon Davis is in this too, though I honestly didn't connect the dots that it was him until I looked at the credits afterwards. I didn't know he was an actor now but he was really funny in this. This was really just such a fun pregnancy comedy movie. I'd put it up there with Baby Mama and Knocked Up. My only complaint was that Shannon Elizabeth wasn't in it as much as I thought she'd be. She's probably only in it for 10-15 minutes.

I'm honestly not a huge fan of comedy movies and I'm certainly not a fan of romantic comedies...I watched this solely because I saw that Tom Berenger was in it. I live for the Sniper movies and watch everything that Tom Berenger does. I have to say, I had no idea that he could be so funny. I suppose Major League and the Big Chill are comedies, but not in the traditional sense like Plan B. I'm still hoping they make another Sniper movie but after seeing this, I wouldn't be opposed to Tom Berenger going the Robert De Niro route and starting to focus more on comedy movies as he gets older. He's clearly got the chops for it. The rest of the cast were good in this too. I really enjoyed this movie.

I had never heard of this movie but watched it after it was highlighted in a movie review by Spoiler Alert. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and felt compelled to write a review since I didn't see much promotion for it. Overall, the story was well crafted and this had more laugh out loud moments than any other comedy movie I've seen in recent memory. I'm not typically a fan of romantic comedies and usually more of a sci-fi and horror fan so I'm not really the target audience for this so I think that people who like romcoms or comedies in general would rate this higher than I would. One of the main reasons that I watched this was because Jon Heder is the male lead. I grew up watching him in Benchwarmers, Blades of Glory, and of course Napoleon Dynamite. I hadn't seen him in anything for years but he was awesome in this. He wasn't the typically nerdy character he usually plays. Sure he's quirky in this, but his character really has some depth here and he shows range I didn't know he was capable of. Hopefully this leads to some more Jon Heder movies because he's one of those actors that I think everyone likes. 6/10 for me but if you like comedies or romcoms, definitely give this a watch.

I watch the majority of comedy movies that come out nowadays and I can honestly say this one of the better ones that I've seen over the last 4-5 years. In a world of remakes and reboots, this concept felt original enough to draw me in. I'll also say that it's not only laugh out loud funny but it has so much heart. My favorite comedies are the ones that make you laugh throughout and then tear up at the end. This did just that. I don't want to give any spoilers, but the payoff at the end is extremely rewarding and I couldn't help but have a huge smile on my face. I also loved the contrast between Jon Heder and Michael Lombardi. Two polar opposites yet both prove to be charming in their own way. My score for this is an A-.