Unexpected movie review & film summary (2015)

But Swanberg finds a pleasingly low-key tone throughout the film, which (blissfully) is especially true during the kinds of moments that usually are played for wacky laughs in pregnancy comedies. (Peeing on a stick, puking in a trashcan, dashing to the hospital, etc.) And the bond that forms between Smulders’ character, Samantha, and Gail Bean as the teenage Jasmine feels tender, genuine and unforced. Except for a bit of contrived conflict that arises toward the end, the connection between these two expectant mothers—who are at vastly different points in their lives—rings with a mutual kindness and compassion.

Samantha encourages all her students to go to college, even as her own situation is in flux. The predominately black school where she teaches is shutting down at the end of the year, which will put her out of a job. She enjoys a modest but fulfilling life with her boyfriend (a quietly supportive Anders Holm from “Workaholics”), with whom marriage and kids were on the horizon eventually. That whole process speeds up, though, once she starts feeling uneasy and a pregnancy test comes back positive.

Around the same time, there’s talk around campus that Jasmine also is expecting with her shy, older boyfriend. Although this vivacious, young woman has a 3.8 grade point average and her sights set on the University of Illinois, her plans appear to be in jeopardy with a baby on the way. Swanberg, working from a script she co-wrote with Megan Mercier, addresses the realities of Jasmine’s financial situation and her unstable childhood in matter-of-fact fashion.

And that’s basically the extent of the plot: We watch and wait as the big day approaches for them both. The warm link between these prospective mothers grows as their bellies do. Swanberg doesn’t force the parallels between them, but rather allows each character’s story to play out with specific struggles and doubts. But as so many women do, Samantha debates the merits of staying home with the baby vs. going back to work, with all the guilt and what-ifs that accompany such a crucial decision. (Her well-meaning boyfriend thinks it’ll be a nice break for her to care for a newborn baby all day, which is hilarious.) Similarly, Jasmine wonders whether the costs of housing and tuition are feasible during her baby’s earliest years. Both women fear a loss of identity, even as they’re about to gain a new one—something Swanberg explores with intimacy and clarity.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7s7vGnqmempWnwW%2BvzqZmq52mnrK4v46upZ6woJqwtbHDZmlpaWU%3D