You know when a football team with a traditional offense suddenly lines up in some crazy formation before the snap, and the whole stadium buzzes at the possibility that some big trick play is coming up? These gimmicky plays are ones that coaches dream up in moments of brilliance, but when the “trick” is given away before the snap, it almost never works out.

“Life As We Know It”

At Quality 16 and Rave
Warner Bros

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“Life As We Know It” begins as if something about it could be special, but gives away its big “surprise” way too quickly — in the trailer, in fact.

Before we step into the theater, we're informed that the parents of adorable toddler Sophie die in a car accident, and that’s why her Godparents — Holly (Katherine Heigl, “The Ugly Truth”) and Eric (Josh Duhamel, “Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen”) — are brought together to help raise her despite their disdain for each other. Before they fall in love, that is. (Oops! Spoiler alert!)

Katherine Heigl in a movie about raising a baby she didn’t expect to have with a man she initially finds repulsive … if this synopsis feels familiar to you, you’re not alone. Once the unusual circumstances at the outset is past, you have definitely seen the rest of this movie before.

The film’s conflict stems from life-altering experiences that throw both Heigl and Duhamel’s previous plans to the wind, forcing them to overcome their differences for the sake of Sophie. But, since the audience is completely aware that this big shock is coming, the movie not only loses some of its edge and ability to surprise, it makes the entire story less meaningful.

Most of the credit for this film’s shortcomings goes to its poorly conceived trailer, but some blame has to fall on the storyline itself, which — after the surprise that we knew was coming happens — feels like almost every other Katherine Heigl movie.

While Heigl and Duhamel are supposed to portray a set of sympathetic characters, once we realize what their "surprising" situation actually is, we don’t really feel bad them. Eric, a token playboy, changes little to nothing about his “me-first” lifestyle until the end, and actually has more random hookups because of the baby.

Holly, while pressed for time at her bourgeoning pastry shop, has no trouble providing for little Sophie, whose deceased parents left her and Eric with a completely paid for, "MTV Cribs"-style mansion. The only expenses our heroes have to worry about are food and diapers, and the time they spend in their late friends’ palace makes their experience of raising a child feel more like a comedic, sex-filled vacation than a serious attempt at not screwing up a kid's life. There’s enough comedy in “Life As We Know It” to make it bearable, but that's not saying much.

What bad coaches and bad artists don’t realize — and why their trick plays don’t work — is that you have to master the basic, “easy” plays before you try pulling out something huge. This movie has a potentially poignant starting point that hasn’t been done before, but it becomes clear as the movie goes on that “Life As We Know It” is a traditional, easily understood (and defeated) concept. It’s just run out of an unconventional formation.