Egg

This is an odd film about motherhood. Tina is a successful artist who invites her long time now-impregnant rival Karen, along with both their husbands, for a visit. The film tries to imitate the amazing "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf" (1968) but instead of having the complex, multi-layered and fascinating character of Martha, we get Tina, and instead of witty, absurd philocophical dialogue we get almost two hours of painful passive agressive behaviour that leads nowhere.

The characters never become real, and the plot quickly becomes a bore. It always seems like the plot is trying to get somewhere - but never does. That at least until the very end, when the film was finally abouy to get to a climax, only to end in a cliched way.

The film is not necessarily awful, though. There are some moments of joy and tension, even some pretty funny jokes. Sadly, they are not enough to make up for wierd narrative and the poorly written characters.

Greetings again from the darkness. In what would likely be more effective as a stage play than a film, director Marianna Palka (GOOD DICK, 2008) subjects us to first four, and then five adults, each participating in what is mostly a 90 minute exercise in passive-aggressive bickering. There are absolutely some moments of pure movie gold, and the premise is quite promising, but unfortunately the bulk of this movie experience is simply watching annoying people and listening to their irritating banter (courtesy of the first screenplay from Risa Mickenberg).

In defense, annoyance is the goal here. Former art school classmates Karen (Christina Hendricks) and Tina (Alysia Reiner) have arranged their first get-together in many years. Karen brings her wealthy snob husband Don (David Alan Basche, Ms. Reiner's real life husband) to Tina's bohemian loft which she shares with Wayne (Gbenga Akinnagbe). Karen is 8 months pregnant, Don is worried about his Cadillac in this neighborhood, Tina is a conceptual artist, and Wayne adamantly refuses to be defined by his work - of which he seems to have little.

Judging others seems to be the point of this little party, and as Karen calls giving birth "one of the most beautiful things in life", she has to stop every 5 minutes to pee and eat, and repeat the cycle - all while being unable to sit comfortably. Riffing on how decisions are made on whether to become a parent, and how contemporary gender roles are defined, an abundance of societal commentary leads to a never-ending soft core argument. The bombshell hits when Tina announces she and Wayne are having a baby via a surrogate. Things get really interesting when Kiki (Anna Camp), the surrogate, joins the group.

The wheels go flying off when Kiki reveals she has been in a 5 year relationship with a married man, and that man's wife is now pregnant with their 6th child. Kiki also talks about the 5 stages of womanhood ... each seeming to be in service to man. The conventions of motherhood, and contrasts in suburbia vs. bohemian lifestyles are a central theme here, but none of these folks are the type from which we can draw any inspiration or insight. They are self-centered, insecure types with each trying to prove their high level of enlightenment to the others.

Mostly it's 90 minutes of whiny women and whiny men, in what could have been a fascinating look at motherhood and the evolution of friendship between two women who chose different paths. There is a bitterness to the story and the characters, and uncomfortable discussions handled in such a way that the biting humor rarely hits its mark. Even the ending, which is totally believable, is unsatisfying given what we've been through with these characters.

This movie is self described as a comedy but there is nothing funny about this and it doesn't bring even the slightest smile to the topic of motherhood. It seems to want discourse but instead provides several different and divisive takes on motherhood. There is no effort of civility or common ground and the backstory or depth of characters is virtually nonexistent. The effect is four (and then five) adults whining and bickering amongst themselves about why their point of view is so superior that it should top all else. This is not funny; this is not a good film to promote dialogue. All it does it create tension and raise moral superiority in a place where more than one option happily exists.

Not worth the time. I watched 30 minutes and couldn't bear another second of it.

At the core of this movie is a struggle between people's ideas about the world and their actual application. At the same time, it is asking what do we as human beings really want? And what does that cost? Sure, something may sound good, but will it make you happy? As a man, I chose to watch this movie without trying to take a side, but there where interesting points made by both sides. There was also an interesting male perspective presented in the film. The music and the acting is fantastic. And even though I thought she was underutilized, Anna Camp rocked the ditzy blonde who is actually kind of deep. A word of warning This movie is more of a slow burn, and I am not going to lie; the first half is a little over the top and kind of drags. But once Anna Camp hits the screen, the slow burn really pays off. Also, the line "This is why every one hate liberals" is perfect as it shows the problems with both extreme progressives and liberal ideas in general. Plus, Anna Camp in Daisy Dukes is always a win.

I have to say this is one of the best conceived and acted films I have watched in a long time; it seems as if it might transfer very well to the stage if someone wanted to bother. What I must comment on is the classification of "comedy". Perhaps for singles or people that are disillusioned with relationships and parenthood, this might seem funny, but if you are a conscientious parent or in a willingly committed relationship, this was far from funny. Every single one of the characters were well-acted and very believable so that I saw very close similarities from my own social circle and the subject matter was very dark. I would classify this as "drama" and remove the "comedy" tag.