Miss Conception

It's a dud. It shouldn't have been, because the basic elements were in place for a decent romcom.

I watched this because I know Heather Graham and Tom Ellis can act, sometimes well and sometimes brilliantly. And although the premise, needing to have a child either now or never, isn't original, it's serviceable in the right hands, as "Not Suitable For Work" showed with Ryan Kwanten as the lead. All the technical elements are fine.

But the screenplay is horrible. Events aren't just predictable, every single step of the way is consistently telegraphed, so loudly you can't possibly miss it. And the plot depends on two stratagems that just drive me up the wall. One is a failure to communicate, facilitated by awkwardly contrived situations. And not just once, but repeatedly, and not just between the two main characters. Just get the darn words out! And Georgina, Graham's character, continually displays incompetence at a level that seems almost terminal. Georgina shouldn't be trusted to cross a street safely, let alone run a construction company. Unbelievable.

The writers failed. And somewhere up the chain of responsibility, so did others -- directors, producers, editors. Pass on this one.

I've been on a string of romantic comedies this month and I've never stopped a movie or fast forwarded to the end like this movie. Miss Conception tells the story of Georgina, a 34 year old woman who is entering an early menopause and only has 4 days left to conceive. Unluckily for her, she gets into a fight with her boyfriend and he leaves for work.

As the title suggests, her main goal is to conceive a baby. During a 4 day period, she goes from zany encounter to encounter. This is where the film ultimately fails. The story would like us to believe that it's just that hard for her to get laid and in reality it's really not, especially a woman as beautiful as Heather Graham.

Like all romantic comedies, the resolution is predictable. It's not that it's a bad thing, but the way that the events turned out, it makes you want to skip right to the end. It's pointless because there's nothing there to makes you want to keep watching. Even for fans of romantic comedies, I highly recommend against watching this film.

I thought it was pretty good. The plot centers around a 34-year old woman who is about to hit menopause early. I've always felt that Heather Graham is an undervalued actress who could go far with the right material, eg. "Broken" (2007) but I think that the plot would have been more credible with a slightly older looking actress, Graham still looks like 25. Perhaps the scenes with Zack's adventures in Ireland and his ditzy production assistant wasn't really essential to the plot. I never really understood why Georgina fancies Zack at all when the chemistry and emotional depth between Georgina and her friend Clem appears to be much deeper. The incident with the sperm sample and the birthday cake felt very contrived.

I noticed the frequent use of "Darling" and "Sweetie" which at times made the movie sound like a P.G. Wodehouse novel or an episode of "Absolutely Fabulous". Kudos to first time screen writer Camilla Leslie for making a new twist on the romantic comedy formula.

This film is about a woman who is told by the doctor that she has only four days left to become pregnant.

"Miss Conception" is obviously aimed at women who really want children. So, despite it being a romantic comedy, people who fall into any other demographic groups would find it contrived. I think Heather Graham is miscast, because she is too beautiful and attractive to have trouble to find the guy to make her pregnant. This is such a major plot hole which makes the story implausible. Other than that, the plot is light hearted, fun and comedic. It is a little slow, but it is still an enjoyable watch.

Apparently, Georgina Salt's biological clock has been ticking a great deal faster than she ever could have imagined. For upon visiting a fertility clinic, the attractive young woman (Heather Graham) learns that she has only two weeks to go before her ovaries dry up, rendering her forever unable to have a baby. The problem is that her longtime boyfriend (Tom Ellis) has no desire to be a daddy, so Georgina is forced to look elsewhere for sperm-donor options. Her search leads her to employ all sorts of desperate measures, including advertising for a "lodger," picking off mourners at a funeral, hooking up with a muscle-bound exotic dancer, succumbing to the advances of a horny employee, pressuring her gay best friend to perform the service and, when all else fails, even turning to a semen-filled turkey baster to get the job done.

Directed by Eric Styles, "Miss Conception" is a modestly amusing little British comedy filled with pleasant moments and droll performances, though, frankly, nothing in it is quite as teasy or clever as its punny title. On a sociopolitical level, the movie squares things with the feminists in the audience by counterbalancing Georgina's obsession with having a baby with the fact that she runs her own construction company. The one-note premise does lead to some contrivance and repetitiousness in the plotting, but the performances and consistently upbeat tone offset some of the movie's weaknesses.