Now, I must admit I went into this movie with a lot of skepticism, not only because I'm not what you would call a fan of Kevin Smith's movies, but simply because it's Ben Affleck, and Jennifer Lopez is featured on the first segment of the movie and there were basic problems with the hype concerning this film, but as I went into it, I have to say I was very surprised by what I saw in the end. Though Smith does goes more mainstream with a film that is allegedly based on his life with his kids (If my life was this corny, I'd have blown my brains out long ago), this is a good sweet flick that while doesn't set precedent for originality, is really sweet in the long run.

The film tugs on the heartstrings of its audience with a plot line that I kind of liked. Affleck plays record exec Ollie who falls in love with Gertie and while giving birth she dies, and now he must come to grips with her death while learning to be a good father. Student, the pros for this movie lie not only in the whole of the project, but more in the parts of the whole, for example: George Carlin gives a really good performance outdoing basically everyone else in the movie with a touching performance as the moral center for Gertie and Ollie and their relationship, there is a funny albeit obvious cameo from Matt Damon and Jason Lee in a funny sequence where Ollie is being interviewed by them, there is the walk on role which is both obligatory and entertaining from Will Smith in the climax, and there is the heartbreaking first half of the movie which actually managed to draw some lumps in my throat from how touching it was and could have been.

I think somewhere, someone knows within the studio about this movie and its real purpose. At one point someone will explain the reason for this film. I'm assuming Kevin was on contract and just had to make a movie to hold up his end of the deal, but I'm assuming for fun someone bet him he couldn't make the most unoriginal, contrived cliché piece of fluff this side of "Beaches", and Smith owned up to the bet and won a butt load of money, because this is one of the most utterly derivative pieces of fluff Smith has made. Perhaps his balls got lost during production of "Jay and Silent Bob", but this is a really hokey piece of fluff, not to mention really forgettable. Who knew Smith could be so utterly bland, cliché, and run of the mill?

I hate rambunctious kids and that whole plot device with the kid knowing too much for their own good and being smart allecky is never cute nor is it ever funny. Cue Liv Tyler who plays the sassy video store clerk who is so direct and blunt yet so utterly boring in her character's skin. Yes, as always, Tyler doesn't do much for the movie and is very bland in her role serving as the plot device for a film filled with plot devices. Everything about this movie is paint by numbers from the opening death scene, to the father coming to grips learning to become a parent, right down to the love interest who appears at the right time of the story and fulfills something missing in the main character's life, gag me. And almost all of the time the dialogue between Tyler and Affleck is often corny, cheesy, and boring and they have zero chemistry to actually watch in the film, from their little exchanges and her come ons, and none of it interested me in the least. Smith just continues going through the movie peg by peg as if he's reading from a book of clichés with aspects like a lot of melodramatic moments, the dramatic kiss, the fight between Ollie and Gertie which was so derivative of "Kramer vs. Kramer" it left me shocked, and there's even the topper, a slow clap. Ugh. Kevin I may not be a fan, but you disappointed me dearly.

This is an okay movie, but somehow I expected unconventional or original with Kevin Smith. Who knew he'd go so cliché and often times hokey with this formula when there was more he could do with it? Despite being cliché, and derivative and really hokey, this is a cute movie nonetheless.

• Castro was cast mainly due to her resemblance to Jennifer Lopez.