In the psychology world, there is a term called “taste aversion”. Most people have experienced this but did not know the name for it. Taste aversion is when you eat a food that you usually love, it makes you sick one time from eating it (poorly cooked, improperly refrigerated, etc.) and so after that experience, you don’t eat it anymore. You have this one memory of that food that covers up all the other good experiences you had. This culinary hurdle is a tough one to get over, but it can be done—with patience and a great deal of mind over matter. With Jennifer Lopez in the Back-up Plan, I had to get over some taste aversion, or more like talent aversion.

The film is set in present day New York City. Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) is the owner of a pet shop who can’t get babies off her mind. She does not have a man in her life, nor does she feel like she needs or wants one, so Zoe decides to get artificially inseminated. Right after this happens, enter in hot guy named Stan (Alex O'Loughlin) who is a charmer to say the least. With great hesitation and caution, Zoe actually begins to fall for Stan, but uh oh- someone is preggo! Despite the challenges that lay ahead of them, Zoe and Stan try to balance their romantic life with the life-changing baby on the way, but can their love truly conquer all?

The taste aversion does not stem from a dislike or romantic comedies such as this, but from Jennifer Lopez herself. Do not get me wrong, at one point in my life, I would watch The Wedding Planner every few weeks with friends and it never got old… but then Gigli came along and the taste aversion began. Thankfully I gave Lopez another shot and it paid off. Despite the role she was given, she pulls it off very well. It took about twenty minutes of the movie for me to actually warm up to her, but it gradually happened and I began to enjoy her craft. Her counterpart Alex O’Loughlin does a wonderful job too, but then again how hard is any male actor’s job in a romantic comedy when half of your scenes are just you without a shirt? The rest of the cast definitely have their comical moments that will make you laugh out loud. The only true downside to this movie is the artificiality and absurdity of the storyline. Too many components of the plot felt like wishful thinking and could really draw a viewer out of the moment. It is a pity that romantic comedies have taken this route to just try and top the last film instead of just letting a good story tell itself.

This movie is rated PG-13 for sexual content including references, some crude material and language. With half of the plot being about babies and pregnancy woes, most of the sexual content is based around pregnancy jokes and it is not too overwhelming. The crude material and language are a little bit stronger due to the not-so-intense sexual nature of it. There are a lot of bedroom scenes that lead up just before having sex itself, but never show the actual deed, but under the age of thirteen might not be ready for that. I would recommend this film to women who are having a girls night out, but I would suggest leaving your men behind, it will save you money and it will let you laugh at the parts about guys a little more freely than if he was around.
I give The Back-up Plan two and a half out of five baby strollers. The acting may have been solid, but it was not enough to keep the plot grounded. My taste aversion for Jennifer Lopez might have been cured, a new one for romantic comedies with unbelievable plots might be forming as I sit here typing this review.