Miss Conception

It's a dud. It shouldn't have been, because the basic elements were in place for a decent romcom.

I watched this because I know Heather Graham and Tom Ellis can act, sometimes well and sometimes brilliantly. And although the premise, needing to have a child either now or never, isn't original, it's serviceable in the right hands, as "Not Suitable For Work" showed with Ryan Kwanten as the lead. All the technical elements are fine.

But the screenplay is horrible. Events aren't just predictable, every single step of the way is consistently telegraphed, so loudly you can't possibly miss it. And the plot depends on two stratagems that just drive me up the wall. One is a failure to communicate, facilitated by awkwardly contrived situations. And not just once, but repeatedly, and not just between the two main characters. Just get the darn words out! And Georgina, Graham's character, continually displays incompetence at a level that seems almost terminal. Georgina shouldn't be trusted to cross a street safely, let alone run a construction company. Unbelievable.

The writers failed. And somewhere up the chain of responsibility, so did others -- directors, producers, editors. Pass on this one.