The Back-up Plan
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''The Back-up Plan'' (previously known as ''Plan B'') is a 2010 American
romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film directed by
Alan Poul Alan Mark Poul (born May 1, 1954) is an American film and television producer and director. Career Poul served as executive producer for the HBO original series, '' Six Feet Under'', on which he made his directing debut. He directed four epis ...
, starring
Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Affleck (' Lopez; born July 24, 1969), also known as J.Lo, is an American singer, actress and dancer. In 1991, she began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on the sketch comedy television series ''In Living Color'', where she rema ...
and
Alex O'Loughlin Alex O'Loughlin (born 24 August 1976) is an Australian actor, writer, director, and producer, who played Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett on CBS' remake of the TV series '' Hawaii Five-0'' (2010–2020). He had starring roles in the films ...
.Siegel, Tatiana, and Michael Fleming
"Jennifer Lopez going with 'Plan B': CBS Films seeking director for project"
''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'', December 15, 2008
The film follows a woman aiming to be a single mother through planned pregnancy, but soon falls in love with a man who wants to father her unborn children. It was released theatrically in the United States on April 23, 2010, by
CBS Films CBS Films Inc. was an American film production and distribution company founded in 2007 as a subsidiary of CBS Corporation and was considered a mini-major studio up until 2019. CBS Films originally was planned to distribute, develop and prod ...
. ''The Back-up Plan'' garnered negative reviews from critics who praised Lopez's performance but criticized the generic script. It was a box-office success, grossing $77.5 million against a production budget of $35 million.


Plot

Zoe gives up on finding the man of her dreams, decides to become a single mother and undergoes artificial insemination. The same day she meets Stan when they both try to hail the same taxi. They run into each other twice more at a farmers market and a pet store. Stan convinces Zoe to go on a no-obligations date. Zoe is still uncertain whether she is pregnant or not and if she should tell Stan. The night she takes the test, Stan takes her for a romantic dinner in a garden. Things don't turn out as well as planned when he spills the wine and a fire occurs. At the end of the night Stan asks her to come to his farm during the weekend and Zoe finds out that she is pregnant. She goes to the farm determined to tell him that she is pregnant. They sleep together and afterwards Stan is confused and angry that she didn't tell him before and Zoe leaves the next morning believing that things are over between them. However, Stan decides he still wants to be with her and they reconcile. They go to the doctor and find out that Zoe is actually carrying twins. Overwhelmed, Stan goes to a children's playing area to figure out what it means to be a father, but is suspected to be a pervert; this is soon cleared up. He finds a friend there that he can talk to about the pregnancy throughout the movie, while Zoe gets little support from her Single Mothers and Proud group when the group members discover she is no longer single. Stan takes the next step to becoming a father and orders a stroller for the twins. After many misunderstandings and comedic revelations, Zoe and Stan are walking into the Market when they run into Stan's ex-girlfriend. Due to Stan's remark that the twins are not his, Zoe believes that he is not ready to become a father to them, and breaks off the relationship. Later, the stroller that Stan ordered arrives and Zoe figures out that Stan was never planning to leave. At her grandmother's wedding, Zoe's water breaks and on the way to the hospital they make a pit stop at the Market. Zoe apologizes to Stan and they begin to work things out. He pulls out the penny that she turned over when they first met and Zoe promises to trust him more. Zoe gives birth to twin girls, one of whom they name Penny. In the end, Stan opens a store/restaurant next to Zoe's pet shop and after the Grand Opening speech Stan asks Zoe to marry him and she says yes. On their way home, she spontaneously throws up into a trash can and realizes that she may be yet again pregnant.


Cast


Production

The film, originally titled ''Plan B'', was written by Kate Angelo and produced by Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch. Lopez's casting was announced in December 2008 by multiple sources.
Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...
announced in February 2009 that
Alan Poul Alan Mark Poul (born May 1, 1954) is an American film and television producer and director. Career Poul served as executive producer for the HBO original series, '' Six Feet Under'', on which he made his directing debut. He directed four epis ...
was in "final talks" to direct ''Plan B'', which would be his first feature film. On April 8, 2009, ''
The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...
'' reported that O'Loughlin was "in negotiations to nab the romantic male lead". ''The Back-up Plan'' was Lopez's first film in three years, and she confessed to feeling "really nervous". Filming began on May 11, 2009, in Los Angeles. The film's production budget was $35 million.


Music

The soundtrack and the score were released on March 26, 2010, on
iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
. They were made available on
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on April 13, 2010. The soundtrack has various artists, while the score was composed entirely by
Stephen Trask Stephen Trask (born Stephen R. Schwartz; born August 29, 1966) is an American musician and composer who graduated from Wesleyan University. He was the music director and house band member at the New York City club Squeezebox, where they perform ...
.


Soundtrack


Score

The film's score was composed by
Stephen Trask Stephen Trask (born Stephen R. Schwartz; born August 29, 1966) is an American musician and composer who graduated from Wesleyan University. He was the music director and house band member at the New York City club Squeezebox, where they perform ...
. # Daydream – 2:25 # The Back Up Plan – 1:05 # Now What? – 1:04 # That Guy – 0:43 # Show Me Your Cheese – 0:24 # Goodbye for Now – 0:22 # Another Penny Drops – 1:28 # Pregnancy Test – 1:31 # Community Garden – 1:40 # A Serious Question – 0:43 # Fire – 0:40 # First Kiss – 1:01 # Test Results – 0:13 # Shadybrook – 0:38 # Mirror, Mirror – 1:02 # Yummy, Yummy – 1:05 # Cheese Muse – 1:15 # Orgasm – 1:01 # Telling the Truth – 1:46 # Not Leaving Leaving – 0:33 # Dejected – 0:24 # Here We Go – 0:35 # Studies – 0:19 # Chicken In Your Hair – 0:39 # Pancake Prelude – 0:28 # Are You Still In There? – 2:56 # Wall of Strollers / Examination – 1:48 # Pictures of Mom – 1:32 # Just Go – 2:40 # I Wanted a Baby – 1:03 # Old Dogs-New Tricks – 0:43 # Baby Time – 0:43 # And Now, for the Exciting Conclusion Of – 4:49 # Proposal – 1:13


Release


Box office

''The Back-up Plan'' earned $4,257,676 in 3,280 theaters on its Friday debut, reaching number one at the box office. It dropped to number two at the weekend box office with a gross of $12,201,710, averaging $3,720 per theater. In its 2nd week it dropped to number four with $7,255,762, averaging $2,212 per theater. In its third week the film dropped to number five grossing $5,033,471, averaging $1,676 per theater. The following week it dropped to number six grossing $2,387,480, averaging $956 per theater. As of July 14, it had grossed $77,237,270 worldwide, and is
CBS Films CBS Films Inc. was an American film production and distribution company founded in 2007 as a subsidiary of CBS Corporation and was considered a mini-major studio up until 2019. CBS Films originally was planned to distribute, develop and prod ...
' highest-grossing film to date.


Critical response

The film received negative reviews from critics, with most critics panning the script, but reacting positively to Lopez's performance.
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reported that of critics gave the film positive reviews based on reviews with an average score of . Its consensus states "Jennifer Lopez is as appealing as ever, but ''The Back-up Plan'' smothers its star with unrelatable characters and a predictable plot." Another review aggregator,
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a
weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
from 0 to 100 on top reviews of mainstream critics, gave the film an average score of 34% based on 32 reviews. Kirk Honeycutt of ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' gave the film a positive review saying, "A winning performance by Jennifer Lopez overcomes a formulaic and predictable rom-com that involves a planned pregnancy." ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' film critic
Manohla Dargis Manohla June Dargis () is an American film critic. She is one of the chief film critics for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Career Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', ...
wrote that the film is "not very good" and "bland". Amy Biancolli of the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...
'' praised the cast in her review writing "Lopez does a fine job mortifying herself in pursuit of physical humor, shifting her center of gravity in more ways than one. O'Loughlin, in the blander role, acts hurt or shocked or besotted where required, but the supporting players nearly steal the show." ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' film critic
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave the film 1/4 stars, claiming the film "plays like an unendurable TV commercial about beautiful people with great lifestyles and not a thought in their empty little heads." ''The Back-up Plan'' received two nominations for Best Romantic Comedy Actress (for Lopez) and Best Romantic Comedy at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards.


Home media

''The Back-up Plan'' was released on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
and
Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
on August 24, 2010, and sold 277,183 ($4.7 million) copies in its first week of release debuting at number two on the charts behind the sixth season of ''
Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
''.


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Back-Up Plan 2010 films 2010 directorial debut films 2010 romantic comedy films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films 2010s pregnancy films American pregnancy films American romantic comedy films CBS Films films Escape Artists films Films scored by Stephen Trask Films set in New York City Films shot in Los Angeles County, California Films shot in New York City