What to Expect When You're Expecting

PG-13

Released May 18, 2012

1 hr. 50 min.

Comedy

Drama

Romance

List

23%

135 Reviews

Tomatometer

47%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Challenges of impending parenthood turn the lives of five couples upside down. Two celebrities are unprepared for the surprise demands of pregnancy; hormones wreak havoc on a baby-crazy author, while her husband tries not to be outdone by his father, who's expecting twins with his young trophy wife; a photographer's husband isn't sure about his wife's adoption plans; a one-time hook-up results in a surprise pregnancy for rival food-truck owners.

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Critics Consensus

The cast is stocked with likable performers, but What to Expect When You're Expecting is too disjointed -- and too reliant on stock rom-com cliches -- to live up to its distinguished literary namesake.

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Steven James R

Never Been Expecting But I Enjoyed The Movie Funny In Moments Remember The Movie From The First Release Day Years Ago.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/14/24

Full Review

Shawn P

What To Expect When Your Expecting is a typical romance story with nothing to stand out, this movie could have focused on Holly not having the baby and future on how to get one, that would have been much a better story but instead the movie lacks any sense of substance despite it's likable characters.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/07/24

Full Review

Mike R

I'll keep it brief. The dumbest movie I've ever watched....and all those mothers showed up to give birth on the same day? Looking at the very longggg list of high dollar actors in this film, imagine the financial loss the creators/producers had to absorb. You know they spent more than they made.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

04/03/23

Full Review

J

A movie I went into with low expectations and came out loving it. I thought it was heart-warming and touched on several different experiences when related to pregnancy. I think there is something for everyone in this one.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/03/23

Full Review

Autumn F

personally i loved it

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/17/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Super funny and fun to watch!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/22/22

Full Review

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Kirk Jones

Director

Cameron Diaz

Jules

Jennifer Lopez

Holly

Elizabeth Banks

Wendy

Chace Crawford

Marco

Brooklyn Decker

Skyler

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Diane Shipley

Bitch Media

If it had stopped wasting time on slapstick moments like some weird hybrid of Love, Actually and Bridesmaids-with-bellies, it might actually have painted a vivid and perceptive portrait of parenthood.

Jan 13, 2021

Full Review

Kelsey Wallace

Bitch Media

Admitting that pregnancy blows sometimes is de rigeur these days and nothing to freak out about. There's nothing to see here, people. Come to think of it, "nothing to see here" could work as an alternate tagline to this movie, too.

Jan 13, 2021

Full Review

Deborah Ross

The Spectator

Although it's meant to be a comedy, did I laugh? I might never have stopped but for one small thing, which I feel obliged to mention: I never started. I sat there stony-faced like a stone, with a face.

Sep 1, 2018

Full Review

Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

The few moments of cuteness and heart can't make up for the rest of the parts that just plain suck.

Rated: 2.0/4.0

Sep 27, 2020

Full Review

Cleaver Patterson

CineVue

You'll undoubtedly enjoy Jones' What to Expect When You're Expecting far more if you accept it for what it is -- a popcorn movie: warm, fluffy and immediately forgettable.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 8, 2019

Full Review

Andy Lea

Daily Star (UK)

Diaz's plotline seems to revolve solely around an argument with Morrison over the merits of circumcision. She's pro-cut. He's fanatically anti-cut. Clearly, as is the film's editor.

Rated: 2/5

Mar 14, 2013

Full Review

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Synopsis

Challenges of impending parenthood turn the lives of five couples upside down. Two celebrities are unprepared for the surprise demands of pregnancy; hormones wreak havoc on a baby-crazy author, while her husband tries not to be outdone by his father, who's expecting twins with his young trophy wife; a photographer's husband isn't sure about his wife's adoption plans; a one-time hook-up results in a surprise pregnancy for rival food-truck owners.

Director: Kirk Jones
Executive Producer: Heidi Murkoff, Erik Murkoff, Alan Nevins, Mark Bakshi, Allison Shearmur, Jim Miller
Screenwriter: Shauna Cross, Heather Hach
Distributor: Lionsgate Films
Production Co: Phoenix Pictures, Lionsgate
Rating: PG-13 (Language|Crude and Sexual Content|Thematic Elements)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 18, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 23, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $41.1M

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