The indie popularity of Jennifer Westfeldt has always confounded me a little bit. I know people seemed to love her breakout writing and acting performance in 2001's Kissing Jessica Stein, but if that movie came out today people would hate it. It's just too nice and neat. Ever since she's stuck mainly to theater and TV stuff, including an irritating stint on 24. But her previous cred, plus her long time relationship with Jon Hamm(Mad Men) have kept a lot of people in her Rolodex, and she has put it to good use with her directorial debut, Friends With Kids.
The cast she's assembled is basically a Bridesmaids reunion, and probably the closest we'll ever get to a sequel. Westfeldt wrote the script and stars alongside Kristen Wiig, Jon Hamm, Maya Rudolph, and Chris O'Dowd in a comedy about a couple(Westfeldt and Scott) who decide to have a kid together but avoid entering into a relationship so they don't turn out like their boring and weary friends. Megan Fox and Edwards Burns co-star.
The first trailer has been released, and while I have a pretty good idea where the story is headed, the cast is simply too good to ignore. They pretty much guarantee this will be a film to watch when it opens on March 9th. My major concern is Westfeldt herself, who I've never found to be convincing and may get left behind by the talented people around her. We'll see. Check out the trailer for Friends with Kids below....
