The Back-up Plan
User Score
5.5 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 56 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 56
  3. Negative: 17 out of 56

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  1. MartinS.
    Apr 24, 2010
    0
    Is it possible to rate a movie with a negative number? Even Jennifer Lopez must be sick of these plug and play formula pieces. We sat there and predicted every "hilarious" gag in the movie. "She's going to crash." "She's going to spray him with the hose." For the love of god, please stop it JLo. Try and salvage what once was a promising film career.
  2. SvetaP
    May 16, 2010
    3
    I thought it was a feel-good movie, brainless and sweet. after a hard week at work i had to watch THIS? brainless, yes, but in a very bad way... there were a few laughs but... this movie is downright insulting. a movie that made me feel really bad. what happened to the times when motherhood was sacred? lauded by poets and respected by all? jlo is pretty at 40 but she needs to grow a brain and stop giggling. doesnt she respect herself? as a beautiful, young, successful single mother i was hurt to the core. i still cant believe it. birth is funny, breastfeeding is funny and even the 'pedophile' on the playground is funny. humor is never a problem for me and i am easy to amuse. but here, crap and puke jokes along with the most ridiculous portrayal of single mother support groups were just drab, cliche and completely idiotic. felt like walking out. shame shame shame we all have enough on our hands besides this sexism. grow up, people.… Expand
  3. smijatov
    Aug 13, 2010
    4
    Well, it is a romantic comedy. Therefore, expectations shouldn't be very high in the first place. So, for what it is, it is rather decent.
    Definitely some funny moments, but most of them are cheesy and stupid.. and the "problems" are totally unnecessary and solvable, but not in the world of the Break-up Plan.

    Still, Lopez wasn't completely horrible, and the leading actor is SMOKING HOT. I    f for anything else, you should watch the film for his sake! Haha. But overall, it is a passable film, but not good by any stretch of that word.… Expand
  4. Cheryl
    Sep 10, 2010
    4
    Occasionally cute, but not very funny. A pretty typical Jlo movie, something to watch at home, on a Wednesday evening. I must admit though, there is something hypnotizing about Jennifer Lopez. I actually watched the entire movie even though it was insanely predictable and cliche.
  5. bluescorp
    Sep 23, 2010
    0
    Even though the ticket to J-Lo's 'The Back-Up Plan' was offered to me free of charge, I immediately declined. The second time it was offered, for whatever reason, it seems I was in a more agreeable mood and caved in.

    Ok, it was ALWAYS going to be a bad film experience, let's be clear. But nothing, I repeat NOTHING could prepare me for the sheer, unadulterated, spine chillingly horrifi    c scenes proffered by Alan Poul and Columbia Pictures.

    I'll admit, I don't watch a large number of Hollywood films these days, much less this genre, however, I'm quite sure there cannot be any serious competition come RAZZIE® Awards time.

    At the present time, Hollywood studios are producing more garbage than ever - this is widely accepted with metrics freely available. But THIS?!! Surely someone with authority, somewhere along the production line could have stood up and said 'STOP'!!

    With a few strokes of the pen, the studio signed off on this mindlessly insipid, unskilfully contrived fragment of tripe. In today's market, it's conceivable that they may even recoup their costs. As for myself however, I'm forced to deal with the scars on a daily basis, both psychological and physical (I suffered a grade 4 whiplash due to high intensity, involuntary 'wincing').

    I can only imagine the further damage I may have inflicted upon myself if I had remained in the theatre any longer than I did. This was without question, the longest twenty-five minutes of my life - time I might add, that I can never reclaim.

    Disaster witnesses often talk about the sensation of viewing events from 'outside their body' - I now have a very real and first-hand experience of this phenomena.

    May the Lord God have mercy on our souls.    … Expand
  6. cherimich
    Dec 20, 2010
    5
    Alex O'Loughlin is a wonderful actor, but even he can't overcome the horrendous writing and direction in this turkey. I watched it anyway, which is why I got to see one of the most unfunny birthing scenes in the history of film.
  7. jogger91
    Mar 5, 2011
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Shamefully predictable. Formulaic. Typical boy meets girl (typcical meets 'cute'), boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy get girl back. Why does every American chick flick have to follow the same formula. Quite unoriginal.… Expand
  8. FlorindaG
    Apr 24, 2010
    10
    Jennifer Lopez is a very good actres. I lover her very much.
  9. LesviaC
    Apr 24, 2010
    10
    I love the movie very much. I laugh very loud.
  10. AnnaC
    Apr 24, 2010
    10
    Jennifer a very person and act very well. I love this movie Back up plan.
  11. ArmandoG
    Apr 25, 2010
    8
    Jennifer Lopez shines- the film has flaws but jennifer carries it well - its simple - fun- a nice treat !!!
  12. kb
    Apr 30, 2010
    10
    This movie was so funny. To all you haters, you know you enjoyed as well or else you wouldn't have bothered to comment. So what, the movie was unrealistic. We go to the movies to escape reality anyways. i love JLO. to all the people who keep saying that she cannot act and sing are the same people who keep watching and are entertained by her because how else would they know that she can't act or sing and know so damn much about her.… Expand
  13. AnnabelleF.
    Apr 23, 2010
    0
    Jennifer Lopez cannot act, can't sing, can't held a conversation without giggling.She can't do anything I don't know why she is into acting, singing. Why is she in Hollywood?With plastic surgery anybody could be in television.Besides her personality, is very arrogant,and hypocrite.
  14. aymanl
    Apr 24, 2010
    10
    J LO carries this. You've seen all these jokes and setups a million times but J Lo's star presence elevates them to a new high. Some people her career light is dimming but maybe they should see this before being so jugdmental.
  15. LuisG.
    Apr 24, 2010
    7
    The Back Up Plan is pure delight- carried well by Jennifer Lopez giving the thin script - perhaps it would stand more of the lead actor had more spark- hes not bad just not great- Go see the film i enjoyed it ( Jennifer Lopez highlights on film Selena, Out Of Sight, The Wedding Planner, The Cell).
  16. ChadS.
    Apr 24, 2010
    2
    "We were doing fine before you came along," according to Zoe, who chastizes Stan for his semantics, when he explains to an old girlfriend that he's not the father of the baby bump. This assertion of Zoe's makes precious little sense, since the pet shop owner met the goat cheese maker on the same day she was artifically inseminated. And on the night that Zoe learns about her successful fertilization via home pregnancy test stick and dog, she had already fallen for Stan, so mother and child were never really a unit all to themselves. Rather than chalk up Zoe's gripe about her lost independence as a screenwriting gaffe, the nonsensical protestation can be explained by the pregnant woman's increased hormonal levels and romantic anguish. She's upset; she doesn't know what she's saying. Due to the restrictions of romantic comedy, what Zoe is upset about, however, makes "The Back-up Plan" hopelessly pedestrian, in which certain knotty issues and emotions can't be broached, because the genre is largely escapist. But even the most indiscriminating moviegoer may find the negation of any discourse on the A-word(especially on the mother's part) conspicuous by its absence. Whereas Stan's commitment to the unborn, at times, is marked by numerous bouts of apprehensiveness, Zoe never seems to have any regrets about her impending birth to children whose father will forever remain anonymous. If she did, the screenplay would force the filmmaker's hand to deal with all the options that a pregnant woman faces. Zoe gets cravings and nausea, but she never gets introspective, never entertains the possibility that she could start all over with Stan. "The Back-up Plan" doesn't want you to think about this hot-button topic, which is why the filmmaker establishes Zoe's wealth at the outset of their relationship, so when it's time for her to discover that she's having twins, there's no potentiality of the extra mouth being a financial burden to instigate some drastic measure on the Internet entrepreneur's part. "The Back-up Plan" is about bad timing. Perhaps the back-up plan to "The Back-up Plan" entertained some dialogue to the possibility of a correction.… Expand
  17. JoeB
    Apr 27, 2010
    8
    I didn't expect much from this movie. I went as a hostage of my wife. I have to say that I laugh a lot. This movie is funny!. The first half hour was too "cliche" for my taste but, the rest of the movie was really funny, especially the pool scene in the livingroom. Recommended!
  18. Suleiman
    Apr 23, 2010
    2
    Why is Lopez so keen on continuously embarrassing herself?
  19. DivaP.
    Apr 23, 2010
    0
    This movie has absolutely nothing going for it.
  20. JulyGirl
    Apr 23, 2010
    10
    I loved this movie. It wasn't filled with four-letter words and gross jokes. The main characters were charming, sweet and funny. Leave the guys home and go with girlfriends, so you can all laugh yourselves silly!
  21. alyssa
    Apr 23, 2010
    10
    OMG...this movie was hysterical. I haven't laughed out loud in a movie like this in a long time. But it also made me cry, but a good kind of cry. I recommend this movie to everyone!
  22. Sonicphoto
    Aug 29, 2010
    7
    Jennifer Lopez returns to making movies, and she does great in this return. It's a nice romantic movie with its funny jokes, but it's not so much comedy focused as many would expect. And while the movie can be at times predictable, it is still a nice fun film for couples to enjoy.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
34 out of 100

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 32 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 32
  3. Negative: 10 out of 32
  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    60
    Jennifer Lopez carries this thin concept about as far and as well as she can, with Alex O'Loughlin in his first leading-man outing managing not to get lost in the shuffle.
    Read full review
  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    50
    This tepid romantic comedy falls somewhere between a weak sitcom pilot and a second-tier Hallmark movie.
    Read full review
  3. Orlando Sentinel
    Reviewed by: Roger Moore
    50
    O’Loughlin is the very definition of comic dead weight. Imagine making Greg Kinnear carry half of "Baby Mama," or sending Tina Fey out with Matthew Fox on "Date Night" and you’ll get the picture.
    Read full review
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