Dear Katherine Heigl: Please stop taking roles that require you to play the uptight, neurotic, workaholic female lead that thinks she’s better than every guy interested in her. Yours truly, Danielle Ryan.

Now that that’s out of the way, here’s my review of the latest romantic comedy, Life as We Know It.

I’m not above admitting that I enjoy the occasional “chick flick” now and again, although I do despise that term. There’s something enjoyable, almost voyeuristic, about watching people that are attracted to each other, even if it’s completely predictable. And although these movies tend to blend together in familiar, borderline monotonous way, there’s always the hope that somehow they’ll find a way to surprise you.

Life as We Know It, starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel, did deliver some surprises. Heigl and Duhamel each play best friends to one part of a married couple. When that couple suddenly dies, the custody of their one-year-old is handed over to Heigl and Duhamel … who happen to loathe each other. With this setup, the stakes in this comedy are convincingly higher than most of its chick-flick peers. This movie isn’t just about two clashing coworkers or some other odd couple being forced to get along — the well-being of a baby hangs in the balance. Sure, the fact that the two romantic leads have no choice but to share a house seems like a bit of a stretch, but it’s believable enough to propel the plot forward.

I think what surprised me the most about this film was the central relationship. It’s inevitable that the two clashing opposites will end up together — if you genuinely accuse me of spoiling anything I will laugh in your face — but it’s the way that they do that’s refreshing. Based on the house-sharing premise, I expected the Heigl and Duhamel characters to get together much sooner in a “I still don’t like you and we’re currently fighting but I’m physically attracted to you” kind of way. Instead, their progression toward romance is gradual and careful … and actually seems to have a foundation in friendship first.

The movie does put a slight damper on the ridiculousness, but sadly, a great deal more could have been filtered out. There must be some Hollywood rulebook requiring all romantic comedies to include at least one painfully outrageous scene; it’s really the only way I can explain the high level of ridiculousness in these types of movies. Alas, Life as We Know It is no exception. The most painful scene of the movie features Duhamel’s character paying his cab driver to babysit. Having a kid is tough — we get it. There really was no need for that lengthy and awkward scene.

And although this manifestation of the typical Heigl heroine has a little more soul than usual, it was still all-too-similar to every other part she’s played. Yes, Heigl is quite good at playing the tightly-wound over-achiever, but does she really have to get cast for that part every time? In fact, I feel a bit bad for Heigl. Meanwhile, actresses like Mila Kunis, Zooey Deschanel, Anne Hathaway and even Tina Fey have had the chance lately to play fun romantic leads. Poor Katherine …

While Life as We Know It doesn’t stand out too much from the generic romantic comedy landscape, I still enjoyed the movie. I found myself genuinely invested in the characters’ futures, and the ridiculous factor was somewhat lower than I anticipated. The leads have good chemistry (aka, Duhamel is so very, very attractive), the dramatic moments feel genuine and the supporting cast is fun to spend time with.

In fact the biggest thing holding this movie back is the horrible plot twist toward the end. It feels very contrived, and the writers practically have to wave a magic wand to get those two fools back together again. Besides being totally unnecessary, it went against all of the careful character development of the previous hour or so.

While I wouldn’t recommend rushing out to see it in theaters, it is a pleasant and entertaining movie that will make for a decent rental in a few months. There are certainly much worse films in its genre that have been churned out recently.