Kris Swanberg's UNEXPECTED explores how women (and men) experience pregnancy today

One of the strengths of UNEXPECTED is that we haven't seen so much of the ways in which women experience the "idea" of pregnancy in our current times: what it might mean to their ability to continue working and still take care of their child, how it might begin to reflect a growing schism between their men and themselves (the film doesn't address lesbian or gay parenthood, though the concerns may be quite similar). Co-writer (with Megan Mercier) and director of the film, Kris Swanberg, has quite rightly, I think, swung her pendulum toward the distaff side of things, so we learn a lot about the fears and desires of a 30-something young woman who is about to lose her teaching job because her school is closing due to cuts in the education budget.

Simultaneous to this, our co-heroine, Samantha (Cobie Smulders, above, left), also discovers that she is pregnant. Another simultaneity occurs when Sam's best student, a girl she is grooming for college, discovers that she, too, is unexpectedly pregnant. The two, somewhat bonded already, now go for it big-time. Ms Swanberg, pictured at right, has a somewhat famous and quite adorable new child of her own (he's appeared in a couple of smart and funny films already), so she knows from where she comes. She also wants to open her movie up to include new mothers of other races and classes: hence the inclusion of the student, Jasmine (played quite well by Gail Bean, shown above, right, and below) into the mix.

The filmmaker has also given us two quite different men: Sam's couldn't-be-sweeter-and-more-caring white-guy boyfriend, John (a spot-on Anders Holm, below, right, and Jasmine's more typical, not-yet-grown-up-and-doesn't-want-to, Travis, played by the also spot-on Aaron J. Nelson.

If these two men, together with the situation presented us, seem to fall into that typical "whites have it easier than blacks" scenario, well, why not? This is true, with rare exceptions, throughout our country. The point of Swanberg's movie -- in addition to its take on women and pregnancy -- is how little Sam, for all the help she tries to be and offer, really understands or appreciates Jasmine's situation and dilemma.

While this rings true enough, situation-wise, how it is expressed in some of the dialog and especially how the issue is resolved do not ring true. All this unfortunately makes the move seem skin deep when it ought to be more probing. And the inclusion of a short scene, above, of a demonstration of protesting school-teachers, just adds to this sense of surface.

All this is a shame because the movie has quite a bit going for it (including Elizabeth McGovern's interesting turn as Samantha's alternately supporting and annoying mother). So tamp down those expectations, enjoy the better parts and roll your eyes a bit at some of the rest, and you'll have a pretty good -- if pretty much expected -- time.

Unexpected, from Alchemy and running just 87 minutes, hits the streets tomorrow, Tuesday, September 29, on Blu-ray, DVD, VOD and early EST -- for purchase and/or rental.

Emily Abt's TOE TO TOE opens; documentarian turns to narrative

Two teens -- one black the other white -- bond and rupture over Lacrosse, school, boys and self-image in documentary filmmaker Emily Abt's new narrative feature TOE TO TOE, with mixed results. Because the girls are played by a couple of vibrant actresses -- Sonequa Martin (shown right, two photos below, and at bottom) as Tasha, and Louisa Krause (three photos below and bottom, right) as Jesse -- the mix pans out a bit more positive than negative.

Ms Abt, shown at left, is dealing here with themes similar to those found in many documentaries -- the difficulties of holding families together in our current age; color, class and self-image; male and female roles in Black families -- and as her film moves along, it becomes clear that she has put into play many of these themes. Too many, as it turns out. One scene, featuring a number of the characters waiting on line to get into a rap concert, threatens to becomes a sociology lecture by the time the kids gain entry. Abt also relies on true-but-tired tropes like the absentee mother (gone missing to work) and the strong Black grandma, but here, at least, she has, as writer, given some depth and variation to the roles. Ally Walker plays the mom with an impatient conviction, while Leslie Uggams does a crackerjack job with Grandma, bringing a nasty edge, zero tolerance for religion and a slightly foul mouth that light up the proceedings noticeably.

What makes the film interesting (for awhile) is how both of our "heroines" are outsiders.  Jesse eats lunch alone, in the hallway, while Tasha seems not to fit in quite anywhere, even in her own home.  (This school does not smack of "Mean Girls.")  No surprise that it's a guy who puts the dent in the twosome's relationship.  Silvestre Rasuk (above, left:, who'll remind you of his brother, Victor) plays him with an interesting combination of charm and seeming sweetness that curdles midway along into one of the more unpleasant males to recently jar the screen.

Also on the positive side is each girl's home life, pictured in a more nuanced and complicated manner than you might expect.  This is offset by too many coincidences, that nagging sense of being lectured to -- plus a finale, the big surprise of which will probably not strike you as such.  While Ms Martin is properly alert, reticent and suspicious, it is Ms Krause (at right) who steals the film.  We've seen this character countless times already -- the lonely (and attractive) rebel without a cause -- but Krause imbues her with such fire and sadness that she wins us over even when she is at her most annoying.

Toe to Toe, distributed by Strand Releasing, opens Friday, February 26, at the Village East Cinema, and perhaps elsewhere in the weeks to come.  If not, look for it eventually on DVD.