The casting being one of them. Richard E Grant, playing Jack is the first twist, a crazy workaholic type who likes to control everything and is completely narcissistic, witness him going through labour pains at the prenatal course.
Jack is extremely unlikable, so much so that his pregnant wife, in an aside, whispers to her unborn baby that single parenthood might be ahead. Shift to the childbirth and the unfortunate death of the mother. Jack dissolves into morose alcoholism and narcissistic isolation.
How Jack slowly evolves into something resembling a caring human being is the crux of the story. The supporting cast is amazing - Ian Maclellan, Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins - and they add points to a movie I would have rated below a 5 without them. Samantha Mathis tries but doesn't quite engage. We never know enough about her to care, apart from her infatuation with a guy who's bonking her best friend.
I understand that Stephen Rea turned down the part of Jack and I would have preferred his tired jadedness in the role. Jack has a horror-movie type mania that jolts too much at times, I would seriously be reluctant to let him alone with a baby anything. Material has been done many times, but a nice twist at the end too. The main romance was so predictable, but so are they all in movies of this type. We go to them for no surprises, just the warm, slightly cloying fuzzies at the end. 6 out of 10.
Jack is extremely unlikable, so much so that his pregnant wife, in an aside, whispers to her unborn baby that single parenthood might be ahead. Shift to the childbirth and the unfortunate death of the mother. Jack dissolves into morose alcoholism and narcissistic isolation.
How Jack slowly evolves into something resembling a caring human being is the crux of the story. The supporting cast is amazing - Ian Maclellan, Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins - and they add points to a movie I would have rated below a 5 without them. Samantha Mathis tries but doesn't quite engage. We never know enough about her to care, apart from her infatuation with a guy who's bonking her best friend.
I understand that Stephen Rea turned down the part of Jack and I would have preferred his tired jadedness in the role. Jack has a horror-movie type mania that jolts too much at times, I would seriously be reluctant to let him alone with a baby anything. Material has been done many times, but a nice twist at the end too. The main romance was so predictable, but so are they all in movies of this type. We go to them for no surprises, just the warm, slightly cloying fuzzies at the end. 6 out of 10.