The Babymakers

"The Babymakers" is a comedy with an odd story, but it is not really the type of comedy that will have you burst out laughing hard. That being said, then I am not saying that the movie is bad, far from it. It is the type of comedy that makes you feel good, and does manage to make you smile from time to time, just don't expect to be laughing so hard that tears will run down your cheeks.

The story is about married couple Audrey (played by Olivia Munn) and Tommy (played by Paul Schneider), who is trying to get pregnant, but after nine months of trying, there still is no baby. But in his younger days, Tommy, donated sperm every week for twenty weeks. And now being told that his sperm count is low, Tommy decides to do whatever it takes to get his good sperm back and make his wife pregnant. Together with his two friends Zig-Zag (played by Nat Faxon), Wade (played by Kevin Heffernan) and hired professional Ron Jon (played by Jay Chandrasekhar), the guys come up with a plan to break into the sperm bank.

I wasn't really laughing a lot throughout the movie, though the storyline was great and there was some nice dialogue and good moments. In fact, I was only really laughing twice. The first time was when Tommy was in the clinic and accidentally turned up the volume on the video. The second laugh was at the scene where Wade had to grab the sperm container on the top shelf. Sure it was very predictable what would happen, but it was just hilarious to watch that scene, being oh-so slapstick comedy in itself.

They had really put together a good group of actors and actresses for the movie, and people really played their characters quite well. Personally, I thought that Jay Chandrasekhar did the most impressive job in this movie.

"The Babymakers" had a very unique storyline, and that made the movie stand out, despite it not really being all that funny. Still, if you like comedies, and haven't seen "The Babymakers" yet, it is well worth watching. However, I don't see this movie as the type of movie that you will pick up again at a later time for a second watching.

Tommy (Paul Schneider) and Audrey Macklin (Olivia Munn) are reasonably happy at their three year anniversary. They decide to try for a baby. Nine months later, they still can't get it done. He's surprised that his swimmers aren't swimming. He had donated sperm to buy her an engagement ring 5 years ago. There is only one batch left and it's already been sold. He needs to rob the sperm bank.

The movie has to overcome some down beats of a troubled marriage and failure to conceive. It doesn't make it easy for the jokes to get laughs. Schneider is a good straight man but he's not an easy broad comedian. Munn starts off with some good chemistry with Schneider. Then the relationship falls apart. The movie could have easily turn them into partners in crime but instead it's a sloppy sitcom. There are some fun moments like the sperm bank deposit but they are the few exceptions.

This movie had potential but I felt like I had to force myself to keep watching. A lot of it was very predictable and the actors didn't have a lot of chemistry which really affected the overall film. I found myself thinking at certain parts 'would this be funny if *insert well known comedic actor here* was playing the part.?' Some parts of it were just down right silly and by the end of it I regretted paying the $4 to hire it out. It doesn't surprise me that it didn't screen at any of the local cinemas. I've seen Olivia Munn act before but I'm not familiar with Paul Schneider and I can't help but wonder if he was the main reason the cast didn't seem to mesh. He seemed fine but a lot of scenes between characters just seemed awkward and fake and it really made the film difficult to watch.

Recently it seems as though several titles that have come out are missing something crucial that audiences tend to enjoy- subplot.

The film overall is enjoyable and has many funny moments. While the cast members are easy to like, aside from the Paul and Jay the others lack effective facial gestures that in comedy play equally important parts in terms of "punchline".

The pace of the movie is moderate and moves along well, but this is also where the story becomes a tad monotonous. Without a secondary story, or subplot that could have involved one, or more of the many supporting cast members the point, or purpose of the film travels in a straightforward line from A to B.

Moments in the movie begin to inspire a touch of heartfelt sensitivity (a great contrast to crass/controversial humor), but are cut short before delivering any lasting effects.

To be fair, the project was shot in a very short period of time (less than a month) and given the time frame the finished product is decent, however in the absence of a secondary plot it might have been better to create more suspense/keep the viewer guessing by having Paul (the lead male) refrain from divulging his "secret" that ends up being the basis for the final mission.

This is one of those movies that deliberately tries to be shocking and have some gross out moments in it, just for the sake of it. It isn't being very clever with or about anything and I would even call this movie somewhat offensive.

Don't worry, I don't take this movie serious at all but it still feels sort of wrong for this movie to make fun of certain aspects. A comedy about 2 persons trying to have a baby through unnatural ways could work out as long as it's one of those more sweet type of comedies. Nothing sweet about this movie though. It's hardly a subtle one, that rather makes cheap jokes about sperm and buffing the banana than being considerate toward its subject and treat it with some dignity. I'm pretty sure that people who are on the whole IVF track for instance will find this movie terribly offensive and tasteless. Just as tasteless as my buffing the banana remark.

And the problem is that this movie mostly relies on exactly those gross out moments. Everything else that happens and all of its developments are besides being some highly unlikely ones, so it's also hard to get some pleasure out of those moments. The whole way things just randomly pop up in this movie and things just happen and progress is absolutely horrible and has nothing to do with creativity.

And honestly, I like gross out comedy! I like basically every Americam Pie movie ever made and even laughed at "Freddy Got Fingered". Thing with this movie though is that it isn't ever being clever or original with any of its humor. It's extremely predictable and poorly executed all. I more often thought to myself; 'this is just plain wrong!' instead of 'this is something funny!'. It was somewhat painful and embarrassing to watch even.

I'm terribly harsh toward this movie, just because it doesn't work out at all and even worse; it works out as something cheap and offensive instead, which makes it hard to get any true enjoyment or laughs out of this movie. Of course it has its moments but it really doesn't save it and make it one that is being worthwhile to watch.

3/10

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