Holly Berenson (Katherine Heigl) is the owner of an Atlanta bakery. Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel) is a TV sports technician for the Atlanta Hawks. Their best friends Peter and Alison had set them up on a blind date but it went horribly wrong. When their friends die in a car accident, the two bickersons has to raise their baby girl together.

It's not a new premise to force kids on single people. It's the go to premise for lots of gags. It's maybe the unoriginality of it all that devalues most of the comedy. It's been done before and by better comedians.

Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel are reasonable romantic leads but this movie desperately needs a real comedian as one of the leads to do the jokes. It was not funny even before the deaths turned it heavy. As a romance, it worked well enough but as a comedy, it fails utterly.

In Atlanta, Holly Berenson (Katherine Heigl) is the best friend of Allison (Christina Hendricks) and Peter Novak (Hayes MacArthur). She is single and has just called off a three-year relationship and professionally she runs a bakery, is very well-organized and plans to upgrade her business to a restaurant. When her friends schedule a blind date with Peter's best friend, TV sports director Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel),their encounter is a flop and Holly hates the reckless womanizer Messer. However, when Allison and Peter have a fatal car accident, the godparents Holly and Messer learn by the lawyer that they have been named the legal guardians of Peter and Allison's baby, Sophie, and have inherited their large house to raise the girl. Having in common only their love for Sophie, Holly and Messer have their lives turned upside-down and need to support each other to keep the girl with them and honor the wishes of their best friends.

"Life as We Know It" is a pleasant romance, despite the tragedy and predictability of the story. I usually like the films of the gorgeous Katherine Heigl and the practically unknown Josh Duhamel is hilarious in the role of a wolf. Their chemistry is awesome, but the babies Alexis, Brynn and Brooke Clagett steal the movie. I believe that everybody that is experienced father or mother will recall their first experiences as parents and will love the troubles of Holly and Messer. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Juntos Pelo Acaso" ("Together by Chance")

Fixed up on a blind date by mutual friends, a bakery shop owner (Katherine Heigl) and a womanizing bachelor (Josh Duhamel) share an instant dislike; but, after their friends are suddenly killed in a car accident, the bickering un-sweethearts discover they've been awarded joint custody of the couple's infant daughter (along with their expansive two-story home--mortgage-free!). Awesomely-extended romantic-comedy-with-child is occasionally overbearing and written at a tasteless level, with the usual quota of poo-poo jokes and slung baby food. The leads, along with a colorful cast of supporting players, certainly make it tolerable (Heigl, in particular, is very adept with the changing rhythms of the film's bumpy tone),but it's a wasted effort. Director Greg Berlanti steers the final act to a feel-good finish, but even this commercial bow seems tied too tightly. ** from ****