If Date Night is a prime example of how two likable performers can rise above the conventions of an undercooked screenplay, then The Back-Up Plan represents the flip side of that coin. In the Back-Up Plan, unlucky in love Zoe (Jennifer Lopez in the kind of role she should have stopped playing five years ago) is so baby hungry, that she decides to have a child through artificial insemination. Not but ten minutes after the procedure, she meets her potential soul mate in the form of Stan (Alex O'Loughlin), a sweet natured cheese maker (that's appropriate). Naturally, Zoe flips for Stan, but instead of telling him she's expecting, she opts to hide her little secret and this complicates their pending relationship.

Up front, I concede I'm not this film's target audience, but then The Back-Up Plan is so poorly executed, I can't imagine who the the target audience might be. Lopez and O'Loughlin are somewhat engaging individually but they have zero chemistry and the crappy sitcom mechanics of the so-called plot don't give them an opportunity to shine. The Back-Up Plan resorts to cheap sympathy ploys (watch for the handicapped doggy) and gross out gags that seem sorely out of place (a sequence in which a single pregnant woman opts for delivery in a children's inflatable pool is void of anything remotely resembling humor).

The Back-Up Plan attempts to take a look at relationships and the early stages of parenthood from the female point of view, but the film feels as if it were written by a young man who knows very little about either of those things. And this is, perhaps, the most discouraging fact about The Back-Up Plan. It was written by Kate Angelo--a woman! For a picture that purports to be an insightful look at relationships and parenting, The Back-Up Plan sure lacks...insight. Of course, all of this would be fine if this movie were funny or charming. Unfortunately, it's neither.