Michael (Braff) and Jenna (Barrett) have been a couple for three years with a baby on the way, which causes Michael to have some type of breakdown. Whilst everyone around them seem to be falling apart too!
I think a lot of people would be able to relate with this film, as you must struggle with certain changes in life when you hit particular ages. From Michael’s point of view in this film he is hitting 30 years old and has everything he thought he would have at that age, and everything else seems so planned. He started feeling that he would never having anything new or take him by surprise again.
Jenna and Michael really do seem to have the perfect relationship which everyone ideally would love to be a part of. But when Michael meets Kim (Bilson) at a wedding, for some bizarre reason he goes to see her. I mean it was obvious to what this was all building up to and that Jenna would find out. I found it really difficult to understand his reasons for it all though.
While all that was going on Jenna’s parents briefly separated after her mother revealed she had an affair a year before. The marriage between her mother and father was one of the reasons Jenna wanted to get married. These revelations in a way shatter her ideals on marriage, not good timing when she finds out Michael had seen another woman. Michael’s friend Chris (Affleck) is also having problems in his relationship and leaves his wife. This is all after the pressures of having a baby has torn them more apart than he felt before the addition to the family.
So while at first everything seems to be in order for all of the people in this film in terms of relationships and life in general we soon realise that things are not always as they first appear. I am pretty sure anyone can watch this film and really relate to at least one of the character and understand exactly how they are feeling. I think that is part of the main reason that this film just works, because you could even end up feeling like all of the characters at some point in your life.
For some stupid reason I really did feel sorry for Michael at one point as I can imagine myself having a massive freak out if everything in my life seemed to hit a standstill because I had achieved everything I had set out for. Obviously it would be different with him being a man and I am a woman, but still the kinda mid-life crisis thing at an early age.
Overall I found this film to be enjoyable and quite sad to go through at the same time. Strong performances which were believable made it even better. I am always impressed with films that have Paul Haggis attached.
