What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012)
Average Rating: 4.4/10
Reviews Counted: 132
Fresh: 29 | Rotten: 103
The cast is stocked with likable performers, but What to Expect When You're Expecting is too disjointed -- and too reliant on stock rom-com cliches -- to live up to its distinguished literary namesake.
Average Rating: 4.6/10
Critic Reviews: 33
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 26
The cast is stocked with likable performers, but What to Expect When You're Expecting is too disjointed -- and too reliant on stock rom-com cliches -- to live up to its distinguished literary namesake.
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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 185,142
Movie Info
Over the moon about starting a family, TV fitness guru Jules and dance show star Evan find that their high-octane celebrity lives don't stand a chance against the surprise demands of pregnancy. Baby-crazy author and advocate Wendy gets a taste of her own militant mommy advice when pregnancy hormones ravage her body; while Wendy's husband, Gary, struggles not to be outdone by his competitive alpha-Dad, who's expecting twins with his much younger trophy wife, Skyler. Photographer Holly is prepared
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Cast
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Cameron Diaz
Jules -
Jennifer Lopez
Holly -
Elizabeth Banks
Wendy -
Chace Crawford
Marco -
Brooklyn Decker
Skyler -
Ben Falcone
Gary -
Anna Kendrick
Rosie -
Matthew J. Morrison
Evan -
Dennis Quaid
Ramsey -
Chris Rock
Vic -
Rodrigo Santoro
Alex -
Joe Manganiello
Davis -
Rob Huebel
Gabe, Gale -
Tom Lennon
Craig -
Amir Talai
Patel -
Rebel Wilson
Janice -
Wendi McLendon-Covey
Kara -
Kim Fields
Social Worker -
Jesse Burch
Hutch Davidson -
Mimi Gianopulos
Molly -
Genesis Rodriguez
Courtney -
Tom Clark
Lose It & Weep Host, Lo... -
Taylor Kowalski
J.J. -
Aerli Austen
Female Co-Worker -
Katie Kneeland
Hotel Doctor -
Bree Dawn Shannon
Holly's Client -
Kelley Hinman
Ramsey's Friend -
Jon Stafford
Ramsey's Friend -
Rhoda Griffis
Convention Organizer -
Elizabeth Becka
Agency Official -
Catherine Dyer
Adoption Mom -
Brian Bascle
Adoption Dad -
Dr. Sharon Morris May
Jules' Obstetrician -
Eric Mendenhall
Wendy's Doctor -
Maria Howell
Jules' Doctor -
Sharon Gee
Skyler's Doctor -
Scott Poythress
Anesthesiologist -
Nico Ward
Jules' Nurse -
Cynthia Evans
Wendy's Nurse -
Pamela Smith
Skyler's Nurse -
Jimi Kocina
Lab Tech -
Jasmine Kaur
Nurse -
Valerie Payton
Hospital Receptionist -
Andrew Arthur Medlin
Magazine Editor -
Andrew Laws
Photographer -
Richard Mitchell
Steakhouse Waiter -
Jessie Ward
Cute Girl -
Hannah Kasulka
Pretty Girl -
Wilbur Fitzgerald
Elderly Swimmer -
Todd J. Smith
Interpreter -
Africa Miranda
Adina -
Tegga Lendado
Ethiopian Priest -
Matthew Lintz
Disruptive Kid -
Emily Westergreen
Young Pregnant Wife -
Reginald Womack
Jordan -
Resean Womack
Jordan -
David Thwaites
Ad Guy -
Veronica Yung
Food Truck Girl -
Steve Coulter
Rosie's Doctor -
Cornelia Brianna Moreland
Vic's Wife -
Heena Sabnani
Patel's Wife -
Charles David McDonald
A1A Band Member -
Richard Meeder, Jr.
A1A Band Member -
Nico Gutierrez
A1A Band Member -
William Wayne Viar
A1A Band Member -
Anthony J. Carrozza
A1A Band Member -
Lewis Jeffrey Pike
A1A Band Member -
Kristy Foggitt
A1A Band Dancer -
Becky Simmons
A1A Band Dancer -
Macsen Lintz
Young Boy -
Adam Baaklini
BBQ Waiter -
Chelsea Cardwell
BBQ Waitress -
Catherine Barrow
BBQ Waitress -
Tricia Miranda
Female Dance Partner -
Ryan DiLello
Male Dance Partner -
Bart Hansard
Marco's Boss -
Dougie Jones
Teenager at Food Truck -
Zenia Boyd
Female Contestant -
Michael H. Cole
Male Contestant -
Megan Hayes
Convention Attendee -
Julie Ivey
Convention Attendee -
Dwyane Wade
Himself -
Whitney Port
Herself -
Megan Mullally
Herself -
Cheryl Cole
Herself -
Tyce Diorio
Himself -
Taboo
Himself
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All Critics (132) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (29) | Rotten (103)
Technically the genre isn't beneath contempt. But this movie is.
Top CriticBringing a child into the world is no laughing matter, and all involved seem to have done their level best to make things as mirthless as possible.
Babies are cute and expectant parents often aren't. That kind of sums up What to Expect When You're Expecting.
Director Kirk Jones and screenwriters Shauna Cross and Heather Hach consistently fall back on corny music and slow-motion to try to get laughs. Very little of this movie feels risky, or even frisky.
Patently contrived to deliver the safer side of pregnancy-related humor over the course of five tidily intersecting plot lines.
Remember when advice books stayed on the shelves where they belonged?
Diaz's plotline seems to revolve solely around an argument with Morrison over the merits of circumcision. She's pro-cut. He's fanatically anti-cut. Clearly, as is the film's editor.
What to Expect When You're Expecting provides a snapshot of contemporary anxieties about imminent parenthood, but it may be more worthwhile as a document for future pop culture scholars to use to understand what was trendy in 2012.
The charismatic cast (particularly Banks and Lopez) manage to find the humanity in their clichéd roles but they can't transcend all the surface-level schmaltz on display here.
Provides good chuckles and heartfelt drama - paired with an equal amount of familiar gags and flat story ideas.
What To Expect When You're Expecting delivers a stale plot, mostly underwritten characters and almost no joy. Expect little and you may not be entirely disappointed.
The highs, lows, unexpected joys and totally expected pains of pregnancy get a comprehensive going over in this consistently funny, warm-hearted ensemble comedy.
Too bad you can't watch What to Expect When You're Expecting the way most people read the best-selling self-help book: by skipping the unnecessary bits and diving into the important stuff.
A dirty diaper bag of sex jokes, sentimental mush, cartoonish claptrap and weary parent-to-be cliches.
Those who don't have children would find it rather agonising, while those who do might not wish to pay a babysitter for the pleasure of seeing a film about nappies and epidurals.
I wasn't expecting how warmly I'd feel towards the characters by the end of the movie - and I certainly wasn't expecting to tear up a little bit during one of the couple's denouements. How in hell did that happen?
Appears at first to be a superficial appetizer with little on its mind beyond cliché and predictable formula...but some genuine tenderness surfaces..and Banks is terrific.
These women have nothing that interesting to offer and their husbands are just as dull.
The creation of human life is the best show you could ever see and What to Expect... the book is a great guide to that process. However the movie adaptation is a shallow concept piece, lazy in its approach and moronic in its execution.
Like childbirth, (it's) very messy and painful at times. But like raising children, there will be a few tears and a few laughs and somehow you'll get through it.
The young Hollywood executives of today were weaned on television's last golden era - the heady days of 'Friends' and 'Ally McBeal' and 'Seinfeld' - and the films now being greenlit seem to come with a mandate for a small-screen mindset and aesthetic.
Messy? Complicated? Nah. Turns out all you should expect when you're expecting is to live in the midst of a nine-month sitcom.
The eggs are there; someone just forgot to fertilise them.
This terrible comedy is a return to the cycle of late 1980s obscoms, movies packed with obstetric detail celebrating the wonders of parenthood.
The cast gives it their all, but this tepid dramedy lacks fervour and originality.
As rom-coms go, this one is definitely stillborn.
Audience Reviews for What to Expect When You're Expecting
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Janice: I was breastfed myself until I was six, and look how I turned out.
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- Vic: You want to adopt? How about you adopt some new friends?
-
- Female Co-Worker: Should we all take off our bras?
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- Wendy: Well, I'm calling it... pregnancy sucks.
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- Ramsey: You don't know love until you wiped someone's ass.
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- Wendy: Get me the juice!
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Movie: ID: 771242835 Title: What to Expect When You're Expecting Release Date: 2012-05-18 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 3 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- Was passiert, wenn's passiert ist (DE)
- What to Expect When You Might be Expecting (UK)
