Life Happens
| L!fe Happens | |
|---|---|
 Promotional Poster | |
| Directed by | Kat Coiro |
| Written by | Kat Coiro Krysten Ritter |
| Produced by | Stardust Pictures Dot Dot Dot Productions Mongrel Media |
| Starring | Krysten Ritter Kate Bosworth Rachel Bilson |
| Cinematography | Doug Chamberlain |
| Edited by | Adam Catino Eli Nilsen |
| Music by | Mateo Messina |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release date | April 13, 2012 |
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $930,000 |
| Box office | $28,495[1] |
L!fe Happens is a 2012 comedy film directed Kat Coiro and written by Coiro and Krysten Ritter. The film stars Ritter, Kate Bosworth, Kristen Johnston, Jason Biggs, and Rachel Bilson. Ritter plays the main character, Kim, who lives with her two roommates, Deena (Bosworth) and Laura (Bilson), in Los Angeles. Kim becomes pregnant after a one-night-stand so she turns to her friends for help. L!fe Happens opened in theaters on April 13, 2012.
Plot
Deena (Bosworth) and Kim (Ritter) each bring home a guy but there is only one condom in the house. Rather than going to a drugstore, Deena gets the condom and Kim has unprotected sex.
One year later, Kim is a mother. She still lives with her two girlfriends while trying to juggle child, career, friendships and romance. The man who impregnated her has announced that he is not interested in being a father. Therefore Kim must raise the child alone, with help from her friends and her father (Seymour Cassel).
Development
In an interview, Ritter described how she and Coiro came up with the movie's plot. "Kat and I have been longtime friends. We’re both very psychotically driven, hard-working young women, and we always had this plan to dominate the world, like the two characters in the movie. We started writing and she had a baby, and we had this eureka moment where we just realized that’s the story we wanted to tell, about young girls, figuring out who they are and trying to have it all, but also when you throw a baby in the mix, it creates a whole other set of challenges." [2]
Critical reception
L!fe Happens has had mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 44% based on 30 reviews.[3]
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times called Life Happens "a much milder and more grounded comedy than the recent Bridesmaids, with a smart if somewhat contrived script".[4]
Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times said "the film is rarely hijacked by its more familiar themes and sitcom potential. Instead, aided by a nimbly voluble script by Kat Coiro and Ritter, it emerges as an amusing kaleidoscope of contemporary urban angst and romantic aspirations."[5] Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter liked the relationship between the women but thought the "execution dissipate[d] most of the film's potential".[6] Elizabeth Weitzman of The New York Daily News rated the film three out of five stars, noting that the filmmakers "spice up the formula just enough to keep us watching". [7]
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was arranged by Mateo Messina, who also worked on the music for the award winning film Juno.
Ritter, also a singer, contributes a number of songs to the soundtrack.
Track listing
Da Da Da Boom Deeyay - Mateo Messina
Who Let the Dogs Out?
When the Girl is Lying by Jordan Galland
Get Over It - Solid Gold
Hey Hey - The Mean
I Love The Mall - Mateo Messina
Jump The Moon - Mateo Messina & Billy Katz
Microwebs - Written and performed by Krysten Ritter
My Boyfriend - Written and performed by Krysten Ritter
Shamma Lamma Ding Dong- Mateo & The Crunk
Sleeping Alone - 21st Century Girl
Softcore - Dopo Yume and Domino Kirke,written by Jordan Galland
Three Cold Penguins - Mateo Messina & Kat Coiro
What I Want - The Mean
Wings of Desire - Performed Aaron Earl Livingston
Release
L!fe Happens premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and has been chosen as a selection to the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.
References
- ^ L!fe Happens - Box Office Mojo
- ^ Radish, Christina. Krysten Ritter Talks Life Happens, Vamps, Don't Trust the B in Apt. 23 and More, collider.com, April 11, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2012.
- ^ L!fe Happens - Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ Roeper, Richard. Life Happens: Three babes and a baby, Chicago Sun-Times, April 11, 2012.
- ^ Goldstein, Gary. Life Happens spins single mom comedy, Los Angeles Times, April 12, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
- ^ Lowe, Justin. Life Happens: Film Review, The Hollywood Reporter, July 1, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
- ^ Weitzman, Elizabeth. Movie review: Life Happens, The New York Daily News, April 12, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2012.