This is a feel good story about two pregnant women. Samantha (Cobie Smulders) is a white teacher at a predominantly African-American high school in Chicago. She becomes pregnant and gets married. She discovers that Jasmine (Gail Bean) who sports a 3.8 GPA is also pregnant. Samantha and Jasmine become friends as Samantha attempts to help her get into college in spite of her pregnancy. For some reason Samantha was unaware that her underprivileged students don't have the same values as herself. About an hour into the film, the student becomes the teacher, giving Samantha an epiphany.

While the film discusses working mothers vs stay at home moms, I didn't see it as a real strong criticism for either one. There film was designed to show the contrasting lives of the two women.

Guide: F-bomb. Brief sex? No nudity. Happy ending.

Seeing how much the film succeeded, I was not expecting a wonderful drama. I am satisfied with it though, like it portrays about being pregnant, particularly about the teenage pregnancy. They did not go deeper on that topic to just disclose the negatives, instead they told a heartwarming tale, the relationship between two unlikely pregnant women. After a high school teacher and her student got pregnant unexpectedly, and having a common, they come closer to get by together those tough times. During the period, they plan for their future, but many bumps on the road, how they tackle it was revealed in the rest of the film.

I have heard that Cobie Smulders was really pregnant during making this film. She was good and the highlight of the film. I haven't seen her many solo films. So I find her a much better actress and beautiful than in any of her multi-starer films. Her co-star was not bad either. An interesting storyline, and well written, but not enough to impress a large group of audience. Some people would enjoy it though, probably women who went through a similar situation in their lives. Sometimes we expect a film and reject it if it does not stand up to that par. But some films just reveal what it is intended to and this is that kind of film, whether you like it or not, it will be what it is.

7/10

I won't recap the plot, since other reviewers have done this in fine detail. This is a gentle story about two pregnant women--one an adult with a career and a stable future, the other a teenager with no certainty--who bond over pregnancy. It works hard to avoid the "rescuing white lady" cliché, and find another narrative, and that was a strength of the movie, and also a weakness.

The filmmaker explores a mother's need to nurture the baby against the desire for a life and identity of her own. She also explores the lost opportunities that pregnancy brings to both women.

However, I was less satisfied with her conclusions. Coming down on the side of the stay-at-home mom was too pat. Of course many women want to stay with their babies, and if given the choice would be there for the early months at least (although not all women feel this way).

At one point the two women have an argument with one asking the other, "Would you leave your baby?", ignoring the fact that almost all working women around the world, and certainly single mothers, do just that. That's especially true if they want or need to earn well. I think it must be easier to romanticize this if you work in a flexible profession like the arts.

In the case of Jasmine specifically, the choices the filmmaker has her make are choices that doom her and her baby to a significantly limited future. In the case of Samantha, although she did miss her chance at a dream job, one missed chance for a well educated, young, upper middle class woman won't seal her fate.

The movie's message is that Jasmine shouldn't sacrifice time with her baby, and having an extended family will make it all OK in the end. Yet an earlier scene shows that her family can't get through the month on the food stamps they have. Raising a child is expensive. Giving him/her a good future and education is even more so.

Sacrifice is sometimes necessary to improve life for the next generation. In this case maybe it means Jasmine leaving the baby with family for a time while she pursues her education and a better future for them all.