Review of Labor Pains

Labor Pains (2009)
1/10
Labour Fails suits this title better
31 July 2009
Warning: Spoilers
To be honest I really had more fun watching these "Based on the true story" titles my mother is keen on watching. This title is full of clichés, the plot is incomprehensible and the acting is mediocre at best.

Thea Clayhill (Lindsay Lohan) is assistant to an editor and her job is very lousy (to say the least). She is very hardworking and she has to support her little sister Emma (Bridgit Mendler). She dates a local sandwich guy. When she steps on her bosses foot once too much he fires her but retracts his decision when she says she is pregnant (she isn't really). She steals a fake belly off the manikin in the store, comes to work and everybody buys it immediately.

The worst thing about this movie is that everything feels unbelievable and underdeveloped. Are there really such publishing offices where every single male i sexist to the female secretary? How can a place like that still make an income when the main editor is caring about his dog 100 times more than about the books? They also say that the office is quite successful. The biggest question is why would anybody pretend to be pregnant to save the worst job in the world? Especially that it is established that Thea is hardworking.

There suppose to be some discovery from the main character about the hardship of being pregnant but it all boils down to a single-sentence statements about the whole thing. To think that a pillow can pass as a pregnant belly for months is simply atrocious.

We are suppose to believe that Thea has to put up with the job because she has a sister to support but their struggle seems nonexistent. Neither of the sister is bothered by their parents death (mabe it happened years ago), which itself is mentioned so briefly that suggest that even the director didn't think of it much. Even though this suppose to be the force behind Lindsay holding to the job.

The cast makes the most of what the script is but because of their honest approach (as if this was a regular blockbuster) it seems even less entertaining. There is absolutely no chemistry between the male lead and Lindsay. As if every discriminated woman would fall for the first guy that shows them affection. The first relationship that she is in is even more bizarre - her boyfriend is a sandwich stand guy with two or three lines in the movie: one about the sandwiches and one to

get her humiliated so the character can be discarded.

I have to say I smiled a couple of times during the movie because of oddly inserted jokes like the breading lessons instructor "borrowing" a husband of one of the women in the class. But thats merely enough to push the movie to mediocre territory and certainly to little to wash the bad aftertaste of all of the other jokes.

From the cast my favorite is the cocky little sister Emma. Bridgit Mendler seem right at home and act almost effortlessly. That is in contrast of Lindsay Lohan who, I have to say, seems inappropriate for the transition to mature roles (or maybe to very lousy ones) I'm giving it 3/10 for some rare mediocre jokes and Bridgit Mendler but the lasting impression is that I watched Straight-to-garbage production.
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