What to expect when you see 'What to Expect When You're Expecting'

By Mary Pols
Special to MSN

We are extremely suspicious about what can be gained from the movie adaptation of "What to Expect When You're Expecting." First of all, this guidebook sat on our nightstand for a year. It spooked, hectored and only occasionally soothed us. It is one long lecture, already familiar to just about everyone who has ever given birth in America (93 percent of pregnant women read the thing, according to a poll by USA Today). More than 17 versions of Heidi Murkoff's book are in print, although -- little-known fact -- women come to resent this book so much they toss it the second they wean their babies. Do we need to relive that in fiction? Who gets to act out the passages on hemorrhoids: Jennifer Lopez or Cameron Diaz? We doubt even our beloved Elizabeth Banks can make the section on "excess saliva" riveting. Not to mention that Hollywood has already covered most of this fertile (sorry!) territory. Who can better the ultrasound scene in "Juno," top the slapstick of double deliveries in "Father of the Bride 2" or improve on Bella's awesomely bloody emergency C-section in "Breaking Dawn"? Here's our slideshow of how Hollywood has already covered pregnancy. The subject headings are straight from the bible of gestation, the fourth edition. Or maybe the 12th. We've lost track.

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(Lionsgate)