Reel Review: Plan B (2024)

“Plan B” is a refreshingly raw, funny, and heartfelt romcom about messy decisions and the imperfect journey to finding oneself.

Not much is certain in life. In fact, the only certainty may be that it rarely goes according to plan.

Many of us grow up with an idea of what our lives will be like—the perfect job, the perfect relationship, and the perfect family. That ideal can be difficult to let go of, especially when juggling societal pressures and others’ expectations.

Yet, the secret sauce isn’t in getting everything you want, exactly how and when you think you want it. Life’s magic isn’t found in sailing the smoothest of waters but in learning to navigate the inevitable choppy seas, riding the waves of uncertainty and change with acceptance and perseverance.

That’s the crux of the wryly funny and surprisingly heartwarming Plan B, directed by Brandon Tamburri from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jean S. Monpère.

Whereas most romantic comedies play to the fantasy, satiating our hunger for idealistic, often unrealistic love, Plan B isn’t afraid to be a little messy and complicated.

The film explores bad choices and consequences and the intersection between expectation and reality, between what we think we need and what we really want.

This isn’t a fairytale romance; in fact, it’s much more of a trainwreck for most of the film.

Piper Brennan (played to endearing perfection by Jamie Lee, an actress and writer known for shows like Ted Lasso and Crashing) isn’t a woman looking for love. Though she’s become a social media sensation thanks to her photographic series on the nature of love, the commit-phobic barista would rather have a good time and keep messy feelings out of her personal life.

Just as she’s poised for a huge career breakthrough, landing a promising book deal, she has a drunken one-night stand with her adoring next-door neighbor, Evan (Napoleon Dynamite‘s Jon Heder), and becomes pregnant.

Having nursed a long-time crush, the adorkable Evan—who crochets, plays in a band, and watches Wheel of Fortune with his cat, Cat Sajak—has fallen hard for Piper. She, on the other hand, is horrified by the thought of having a baby with a man who repels her and can offer little in the way of security.

Deciding she wants to keep the baby, Piper ignores the sage advice of her best friend and roommate, Maya (Subhah Agarwal).

Instead, she embarks on an ill-advised plan to keep the truth from Evan while she seduces a successful man, convincing him the baby he is so he’ll help her raise it properly.

She sets her eyes on a handsome investment banker named Cameron (Michael Lombardi)—a frequent customer at the café where she works. Her nefarious plan goes a little too well, and Cameron proves exceedingly easy prey. He’s happy to be on the hook once he learns Piper is pregnant, and he embraces her wholeheartedly, as does his perfect upper-class family.

However, once Piper starts seeing him as a person and not a conquest, guilt and regret set in. To make matters worse, she’s also starting to realize how good of a guy Evan actually is.

Can she unweave this clusterf*ck of a web and find some path to happiness?

The whole situation is dubious at best and downright diabolical at worst.

Yet, despite how much you’ll hate everything Piper does in this film, Lee ensures it’s difficult to impossible to hate Piper herself. Whether she deserves it or not, you’ll be rooting for her happily ever after.

At the end of the day, Piper is far more misguided than malicious. She’s deeply flawed, but that’s what makes her so compelling and relatable. Lee makes you more than willing to invest in her journey, even if you find yourself as exasperated as Piper’s far-more-levelheaded bestie, Maya.

Heder plays quirky to perfection. He’s just oddball enough to make you understand Piper’s trepidation to get romantically involved with him. Yet, it’s also easy to be charmed by his warm heart, good nature, and hopeful optimism.

It’s a nuanced performance that strikes all the right chords and makes Heder’s Evan an unlikely but very likable leading man.

Frustratingly, Lombardi is equally irresistible—albeit the much more suave and quintessentially desirable foil to Evan’s oddball outsider. Still, despite his classic good looks and financial security, he’s not written to be the obvious interloper you love to root against. He’s caring, compassionate, well-meaning, and genuinely invested in his relationship with Piper.

Personally, I love a romcom that dares to write layered characters who aren’t black and white and offers complexity to the cliched boy-meets-girl and “unlikely lovers” storylines.

Piper and Evan do not have an “ideal” relationship, and that’s a huge reason why Plan B is the ideal, atypical romantic comedy.

At the end of the day, Piper has never really known what love looks like. That’s likely why she’s so fascinated with documenting the love of others. She craves love, whether she wants to admit it or not, but she is terrified of it to the point of sabotaging her potential happiness at every turn.

If you can’t relate to that, perhaps Plan B won’t be your proverbial cup of tea.

For the rest of us—who identify with being a little lost, a little broken, just a little bit hopeless—it’s like a warm cup of cider that makes you feel all cozy inside and reminds you that maybe, just maybe, there’s hope for all the misfits yet.

Ultimately, Plan B was an unexpected delight. It made me smile and giggle throughout while still pulling at my heartstrings—but not in a way that felt manipulative or disingenuous. There’s real heart in this story, and it’s handled with appropriate care.

It has much to say about honesty, owning your mistakes, second chances, and realizing that people often have surprising depths that may not be readily apparent.

Come for the hefty dose of humor, and stay for the heart at the story’s core; it offers a believable love story and the perfect alternative to schmaltzy Hallmark romances.