Baby Mama (C or 2/4 stars)
Kate Holbrook (Tina Fey), a successful & single businesswoman, has long dreamed of having a baby. After discovering that she's infertile, she hires a woman to be her surrogate. Little does she know that almost every aspect of this woman's being is less-than-savory. Unbelievably, I've now watched 2 movies in a row that are about the same exact thing. The other film, Then She Found Me, is a drama that has some comedic elements to it. This one, 'Baby Mama' (written & directed by Michael McCullers), is a comedy that has dramatic moments sprinkled throughout. I found the former to be slightly better.
Kate is 37. No husband, no child. She's concentrating on climbing the corporate ladder of an organic grocery store chain. However, she knows her biological clock is ticking. And knowing that adoption is unlikely (her being a single businesswoman would put her out of favor), she decides that surrogacy would work just fine. After going to a high tech fertility agency & talking with their president (a funny, but underused Sigourney Weaver), she doles out $100,000 and chooses Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Poehler) as her baby holder. Their initial meeting goes well. Kate gets excited; as she buys the appropriate childcare books, & baby proofs her apartment (basically going into crazy mom-to-be mode). Too bad she hasn't seen Angie in her full-on white trash glory, quite yet.
Situations arise where Angie 'fights' with her hubby (Dax Shepard), shows up on Kate's doorstep, & fakes the pregnancy! Kate discovers that Angie smokes, drinks, curses, eats junk food, & watches bad TV shows. The rest of the plot involves the 2 of them butting heads over how to live their own lives (Kate instructing Angie what to do & what not to do as an expectant mother; Angie telling Kate to relax; Kate showing Angie how to grow up; and Angie showing Kate how to let her hair down & enjoy life). Making things more complicated, Kate has fallen for Rob (Greg Kinnear), a man whose smoothie shop is in the way of her plans to open the latest organic food store (think You've Got Mail). Can they all get along? Is Angie pregnant, after all? Will Kate get ever her wish?
Tina Fey is both likeable & smart as Kate. She & Amy Poehler work well together. Though, I think it helps to have seen their repartee on SNL. Those privy to their sarcastic, deadpan chemistry will enjoy this buddy comedy more than if you didn't know them in the 1st place. The rest of the cast is fine, but the characters are more half-formed than anything else. There are also some misfires: Steve Martin is over-the-top as Kate's new age hippie boss. Dax Shepard is annoying & cliched as Angie's husband. And while Greg Kinnear is his usual congenial self; it's a detriment for his character, here. He's almost non-existent.
'Baby Mama' gets by because it doesn't try 'too' hard for its laughs; and that's a credit to the screenplay & the lead performances. But 3 or 4 times, the dial is turned up to where it's too silly; and it doesn't work (that's a directing issue). Amy Poehler is funny, but moments when she's either peeing in a sink or vomiting is the type of low-brow stuff that you'd find in lesser films. It was gross, weird, & out of place. Out of place because the film actually finishes on a completely serious note. Serious ... and curt (something awful happens to Kate, we don't see her reaction, and it ends shortly thereafter); very frustrating. All in all, 'Baby Mama' is an occasionally funny film. I almost recommend it. But it was too nicey nice to be bitingly funny, and not thorough enough in its drama to be taken seriously in the unnecessarily rushed, and predictable conclusion.
Kate is 37. No husband, no child. She's concentrating on climbing the corporate ladder of an organic grocery store chain. However, she knows her biological clock is ticking. And knowing that adoption is unlikely (her being a single businesswoman would put her out of favor), she decides that surrogacy would work just fine. After going to a high tech fertility agency & talking with their president (a funny, but underused Sigourney Weaver), she doles out $100,000 and chooses Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Poehler) as her baby holder. Their initial meeting goes well. Kate gets excited; as she buys the appropriate childcare books, & baby proofs her apartment (basically going into crazy mom-to-be mode). Too bad she hasn't seen Angie in her full-on white trash glory, quite yet.
Situations arise where Angie 'fights' with her hubby (Dax Shepard), shows up on Kate's doorstep, & fakes the pregnancy! Kate discovers that Angie smokes, drinks, curses, eats junk food, & watches bad TV shows. The rest of the plot involves the 2 of them butting heads over how to live their own lives (Kate instructing Angie what to do & what not to do as an expectant mother; Angie telling Kate to relax; Kate showing Angie how to grow up; and Angie showing Kate how to let her hair down & enjoy life). Making things more complicated, Kate has fallen for Rob (Greg Kinnear), a man whose smoothie shop is in the way of her plans to open the latest organic food store (think You've Got Mail). Can they all get along? Is Angie pregnant, after all? Will Kate get ever her wish?
Tina Fey is both likeable & smart as Kate. She & Amy Poehler work well together. Though, I think it helps to have seen their repartee on SNL. Those privy to their sarcastic, deadpan chemistry will enjoy this buddy comedy more than if you didn't know them in the 1st place. The rest of the cast is fine, but the characters are more half-formed than anything else. There are also some misfires: Steve Martin is over-the-top as Kate's new age hippie boss. Dax Shepard is annoying & cliched as Angie's husband. And while Greg Kinnear is his usual congenial self; it's a detriment for his character, here. He's almost non-existent.
'Baby Mama' gets by because it doesn't try 'too' hard for its laughs; and that's a credit to the screenplay & the lead performances. But 3 or 4 times, the dial is turned up to where it's too silly; and it doesn't work (that's a directing issue). Amy Poehler is funny, but moments when she's either peeing in a sink or vomiting is the type of low-brow stuff that you'd find in lesser films. It was gross, weird, & out of place. Out of place because the film actually finishes on a completely serious note. Serious ... and curt (something awful happens to Kate, we don't see her reaction, and it ends shortly thereafter); very frustrating. All in all, 'Baby Mama' is an occasionally funny film. I almost recommend it. But it was too nicey nice to be bitingly funny, and not thorough enough in its drama to be taken seriously in the unnecessarily rushed, and predictable conclusion.