LIFE AS WE KNOW IT
A warm, edgy family comedy better saved for discerning adults.
Should You Watch It?
Life as We Know It has genuine warmth. Its story of two mismatched young professionals suddenly responsible for a toddler creates funny, uplifting situations, and the source review finds the writing good and the performances appealing.
But the movie’s heartwarming family premise comes with a heavy content cost. There is plenty of PG-13 foul language, sexual innuendo, one sexual encounter, brief marijuana-related comedy, and a worldview that treats a same-sex couple raising a child as part of its nontraditional picture of family.
That makes this a better home viewing choice for discerning adults than a family movie-night pick. Watch only if you can weigh the humor and emotional appeal against those concerns.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESHolly Berenson and Eric Messer are young professionals who barely tolerate each other after an unsuccessful blind date arranged by their best friends.
When those friends die in a car accident, Holly and Messer learn they have both been named guardians of their friends’ two-year-old daughter, Sophie. They decide to raise her together in her parents’ house, despite not being married and hardly getting along.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means a likable, worthwhile comedy with meaningful weaknesses. The movie offers many funny and heartwarming moments, along with some good writing and appealing performances.
Its emotional premise gives the story an uplifting center, but the edgy language and sexual material keep it from being an easy recommendation. The film’s strongest qualities are its warmth and humor; its content prevents it from reaching a broader family audience.
The Worldview
The film values family responsibility, emotional connection, and the possibility that two people who begin badly mismatched can grow into a committed relationship. Its central family situation also gives it some strong moral elements, especially the care required to raise a child after tragedy.
At the same time, the movie presents a somewhat liberal and nontraditional view of family. Although the other friends of Sophie’s parents are married with children, one couple consists of two homosexual men. The source review describes this as a subtext promoting same-sex marriage, so Christian viewers should recognize that the film’s family picture does not consistently follow the biblical pattern of marriage and parenthood.
The movie’s longing for a stable home points toward something Scripture takes seriously: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife” (Genesis 2:24). The film finds warmth in family life, but its definition of family departs from that biblical foundation.
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong Romantic, slightly liberal worldview with some strong moral elements, plus, however, a minor politically correct, homosexual subtext involving a same sex couple raising a child; 17 obscenities (including two “f” words), one Jesus profanity, 29 light profanities such as My God and Oh God, and couple changes stinky diaper; brief light comic violence and couple dies in offscreen traffic accident; implied fornication and some light sexual comments; brief upper male nudity; alcohol use; no smoking but a small package of marijuana is found twice and the second time it is baked into brownies; and, nothing else objectionable.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The movie places a child in the care of two adults who are not prepared for the responsibility. What does faithful care for children require from a family and a community?
James 1:27 · Proverbs 22:6Holly and Messer begin with conflict but must learn patience and cooperation. How should Christians handle difficult relationships when someone vulnerable depends on them?
Ephesians 4:2–3 · Philippians 2:3–4The film presents several ideas about what makes a family. What does Scripture say is foundational to marriage and family life?
Genesis 2:24 · Matthew 19:4–6The Final Word
Life as We Know It is a cute, funny, and heartwarming comedy with good writing and appealing performances. Its strong language, sexual content, marijuana references, and nontraditional family themes make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For discerning adults, WAIT FOR HOME — ADULTS ONLY. For other family choices, see.
