"Friends With Kids" may have come out on Friday, March 9, but here at HuffPost Women, we've been excited about it for much longer. First of all, Jennifer Westfeldt -- known to many only as Jon Hamm's long-time girlfriend -- wrote, produced, directed and starred in the film. And for anyone who's seen and loved her previous projects "Kissing Jessica Stein" and "Ira & Abby," it was hard not to have high expectations for "Friends With Kids." Plus, the cast was made up of every actor and actress you'd want to be best friends with -- Chris O'Dowd, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph in something of a "Bridesmaids" reunion.
After seeing the movie over the weekend, assistant editor Emma Gray and senior lifestyle editor Lori Fradkin sat down to chat about their initial reactions, how adorable Adam Scott is and why the movie's last line should go down in rom-com history. SPOILER ALERT: You probably shouldn't read this if you don't already know what happens in "Friends With Kids." This chat is basically one giant spoiler.
Lori: So you know how excited I was to see "Friends With Kids" ... well, I saw it!
Emma: Amazing! I've been dying to talk about it. Initial reactions?
Lori: Overall really liked. It wasn't sold in the first few minutes, but it grew on me.
Emma: I agree. I think it had to build up to being great. The first few minutes I just kept thinking about how happy I was to see Kristen Wiig, Jennifer Westfeldt and Maya Rudolph on screen together. I wasn't even thinking about the plot.
Lori: It caught me off guard, though, how Adam Scott kept calling her doll. Who says that?
Emma: I know! I was really confused because her name was Jules, so I kept wondering whether I was crazy and he was saying "Jul" not "Doll." Really threw me.
Lori: And the setup with him complaining about kids and then Maya Rudolph and Chris O'Dowd being like, "Surprise!" was a little too perfect. But then I kind of got over that and really liked the interactions.
Emma: Yeah, I think the part that I liked best was the super quirky, but realistic, dialogue that Westfeldt wrote. I know I've told you a million times how much I love "Kissing Jessica Stein," but I was happy to see some of the same qualities in the interactions in this movie that exist in that one. (Plus -- Adam Scott is adorable.)
Lori: Remember how I admitted I'd never seeing "Kissing Jessica Stein"? I watched it last night! It felt weird saying I love Jennifer Westfeldt and having no actual reason, aside from she seems awesome and I want to be her friend
Emma: Every interview I read with her makes me like her more.
Lori: I know -- I think that's why I was rooting for this movie so much. And it did touch on something real. What will it be like when all my friends have kids? How will it affect our friendship?
Emma: That's definitely something that hit a nerve. My friends aren't having kids yet, but a lot of them are getting engaged and I wonder how those big life choices will impact our relationships.
Lori: I didn't think about this at the time, but Dana Stevens did raise a good point in Slate. It was a little weird that Julie really moved forward with the baby stuff right AFTER she saw the chaos in her friends' lives.
Emma: Yeah, I guess you had to go with it because it was the entire premise of the movie and you were so aware that it was coming. But did watching all of that chaos make child-rearing just seem totally terrifying to you? I feel like I had a childless single moment of ... is this what it's like?
Lori: Haha, well, I think I always have that fear of something happening like what happened to Jon Hamm and Kristen Wiig -- like how does it go from sex in the bathroom to ... that?
Emma: Yeah, same. It's the whole frightening 'Blue Valentine' sort of narrative
Lori: Totally!
Emma: But I really enjoyed seeing Kristen Wiig in a serious role, even if it was pretty small.
Lori: Yeah, and she still had some of her Kristen Wiig tones. Like when Julie was like, "You can't tell I'm doing Kegels." And Kristen Wiig was like, "I can."
Emma: LOVED THAT. She had some fabulously subtle one-liners.
Lori: I almost wish there was a little more of the interaction between the friend couples. Like when Kristen and Jon go in the kitchen and are like, "What idiots." Did you see "Friends With Money"?
Emma: I didn't.
Lori: There's a scene in the car after a group of friends go out where the couple just gossips about the other friends. It's so great.
Emma: But I agree that I would've liked to see a little more of the Kristen Wiig-Jon Hamm relationship. I liked their group interactions a lot!
Lori: I also loved the Chris O'Dowd character -- how he was like, "Yes, yes, this makes perfect sense!" when Adam Scott and Jennifer Westfeldt reveal their plan. Also, Chris O'Dowd looks like one of my best friends from home.
Emma: He was totally the stable male character. That is awesome. I want a best friend who looks like Chris O'Dowd. Or maybe I just want Chris O'Dowd to be my best friend ...
Lori: So, Lisa Belkin wrote about how she didn't want Westfeldt and Scott's characters to end up together. Did you?
Emma: I think on an intellectual level, it would have been really interesting to see them not end up together. But the part of me that is a sucker for romantic comedies with happy endings was really glad they did. Plus, how fabulous was the last line of the movie?
Lori: OK, you did like it! I was going to ask! Yes, it was great -- I feel like there's some debate about it. I liked it.
Emma: I can definitely see why some people wouldn't like it. But I thought it was kind of awesome to have such a crass line be so romantic in context.
Lori: As for them ending up together, I was rooting for them, though I do like movies when stuff DOESN'T work out along the romantic-comedy storyline. I cried like a baby. Although if we keep doing these, I feel like every chat will have the line "I cried like a baby" from me. I am such a mess in movies.
Emma: We're clearly kindred movie spirits then. I can cry at nearly any movie. It's slightly embarrassing.
Lori: I cry in the preview for "The Vow."
Emma: I'm right there with you. But did you feel like the movie both toed the line of rom-com cliches and also kind of messed with them? Because I kept thinking about how, in any other movie, Adam Scott's big romantic declaration would have ended after him first telling Jennifer Westfeldt.
Emma: I was just really relieved that she said she wasn't sure she could trust him right away. Like they had somewhat of a conversation about it. He didn't just say "I love you!" and then sweep her up in his arms and kiss her.
Lori: Here's my one issue: I kind of loved the perfect brunch as a contrast with the chaos of their friends' lives, but it felt like their relationship was a little too perfect. Like their only issue was that they didn't realize they were in love and got upset when they were with other people. It didn't bother me enough to make me not like the movie. But just something to think about.
Emma: Yeah I agree. There's no way they'd have that easy a time raising a kid.
Lori: Also, I think this is going to be one of those movies that I like after seeing it, but as time goes by, it grows on me to the point where I start referencing it and loving it even more.
Emma: Absolutely! I think it's easy to do that when every member of the cast is so appealing on their own.
Lori: Even Megan Fox was good in that role!
Emma: I know! I actually liked her! I was kind of shocked, because I don't know if I've ever seen her act well. Do you think her character was kind of vilified in the end though because she didn't want children? I thought that was interesting since she had been so up front about that since day 1.
Lori: I actually didn't -- I felt like she came off well. Like here's someone who doesn't want kids and Adam Scott just didn't realize that was a big problem until that eerily reminscient scene in the restaurant.
Emma: Yeah I guess it was just a moment of mutual recognition -- "we don't want the same things." Which realistically happens to a lot of couples.
Lori: Another thing I liked was how Jon Hamm wasn't vilified, even after his actions at the dinner table
Emma: Yeah I was really worried that he would be and was relieved to see his character complicated and redeemed a little bit. (Even though he was a total ass at times.)
Emma: I think the best thing to come out of this movie was that we can now add "I want to f**k the sh*t out of you" to the list of rom-com memorable lines, right after "You're the one."
Lori: "I want to f*ck the sh*t out of you" is the new "You had me at hello"
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