Everyone has a “back-up plan.” For pet shop owner Zoe (Jennifer Lopez), that means having a baby even if she’s not in a relationship. The Back-up Plan begins with a shot of Zoe in stirrups preparing to be artificially inseminated. As chance would have it, she meets the good-looking Stan (Alex O’Loughlin) on her way home from the doctor as they try to grab the same cab. And, predictably enough, the two fall in love. But when things get hot and heavy on a weekend getaway, Zoe has to tell Stan that she’s pregnant with a mystery man’s baby. Of course, Stan freaks out and the rest of this romantic comedy is about how they must learn to trust each other. Yawn. Looking particularly fit at 40, Lopez is as attractive as ever. And O’Loughlin has a shirtless sequence that suggests he’s no slouch either. But the two have zero chemistry, and the film hits a real lull after they start dating. The movie also has several subplots (Zoe joins the wacko group “Single Mothers And Proud”) that don’t go anywhere. This isn’t the worst movie J. Lo has ever made, but it hardly qualifies as a comeback. **
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2010.
