Baby Mama

There is a smattering of smart laughs in this 2008 comedy, but first-time director Michael McCullers really plods his own coincidence-driven script along with little sense of style or dramatic resonance. At times, it feels no better than a formulaic romantic comedy from the 1960's usually starring small-screen celebrities trying to break into the big time. Sure enough, this time, we are offered Tina Fey (currently of NBC's "30 Rock") and Amy Poehler, former "Saturday Night Live" Weekend Update co-anchors and definitely the cream of the current funny lady crop. The problem is that McCullers, a one-time SNL staff writer who also co-wrote the Austin Powers movies with Mike Myers, doesn't elevate the screenplay much beyond the limited dimensions of an extended comedy sketch. That puts most of the pressure on the two women to make this farce work as a distaff version of "The Odd Couple" with a pregnancy angle, and they often - you should pardon the expression - deliver.

Ideally cast with her smart, bespectacled looks, Fey plays 37-year-old Kate Holbrook, single and professionally successful as the VP of an upscale organic supermarket chain much like Whole Foods. She hears her biological clock ticking and is taking every step possible to have a baby. Her last straw is to pay an agency $100,000 to find a surrogate. Naturally, her polar opposite shows up as the ideal candidate - a junk-food-eating, Red Bull-swilling piece of white trash named Angie Ostrowski who comes with her money-drubbing boyfriend Carl. Kate is so desperate she is practically begging Angie to carry her egg, so Angie willingly accepts. Somehow, the women end up living together during the pregnancy and inevitably get on each other's nerves, more Angie on Kate's nerves since a few revelations threaten to upend the deal. Convenience appears to trump logic in tying up the plot's loose ends, of which there are many. However, McCullers' alternately sauntering and piercing Judd Apatow-like approach helps compensate for the bigger lapses.

A game cast also helps. Although fairly limited as an actress, Fey is sharp and likable as the often dour Kate and has the ability to bring the implausibility of her character's situation into more human focus. Even though she is entirely too old for her role, Poehler is a more natural comic presence as Angie, terrifically manic but surprisingly poignant during key moments. It's obvious their joint casting has more to do with their proved rapport than dramatic credibility. In a turn worthy of Jeff Foxworthy, Dax Shepard credibly makes Carl a mercenary sheep. Romany Malco (memorable as Andy's horned-up co-worker in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin") is given little to do as the streetwise doorman, the same fate of Maura Tierney bland as Kate's supportive sister. Greg Kinnear must be getting awfully tired playing the same type of romantic foil over and over again, but he does do it well even though his scenes also seem strangely truncated. Two veterans threaten to steal the picture in acts of petty larceny - a pony-tailed Steve Martin very funny as Kate's Zen-seeking boss whose idea of a reward is allowing her to stare at him for five minutes, and Sigourney Weaver as the overtly self-satisfied and all-too-fertile head of the agency. SNL regulars Will Forte and Fred Armisen show up in cameos. A fitfully funny farce.

Due to my love of Tina Fey I went out of my way to see this film at the cinema; on first release it was only shown at 11-30 in the morning and I dragged my mum to watch in an empty theatre. All I can say is that it was worth the effort.

The two leads bounce off of one another with brilliant comic timing, and both manage to make their flawed characters utterly likable. Yes, the plot is predictable, and no, there is no joke that made me fall out of my seat. However, it did deliver on many levels. The comedy was sharp and although the ending was a little contrived it did manage to put a goofy smile on the face of a cynical teenager, IE moi. 'Baby Mama' is perfect chick fare, and I am disappointed in the cinemas who have cleared all their screens in preparation for the release of 'The Dark Knight'.

Poehler and Fey sparkled and were supported by an excellent cast; Steve Martin was odd, providing some light comedy, but it was Sigourney Weaver and Greg Kinnear (back on form and looking less haggard) whom i felt really carried the film in the absence of the two leads.

Baby Mama was refreshing and a great indication that we should see more of these two girls on the big screen.

4/5 Stars

Say what you will about the marketing machine, but I truly think the people behind promoting Baby Mama did a bang up job…even if I believe they did so without trying. They make expectations so low in the trailer that you almost have to enjoy the film. Was it a great comedy? No. However, it was much better than I ever could have hoped as Michael McCullers takes us places you never would expect going in. I thought that it would be a water-downed, overlong SNL skit with one woman asking another to carry her baby, leading to a generic odd couple pairing with hijinks and gags piling on top of each other, collapsing under its own weight. Instead we are treated to a pretty sentimental and touching portrait of two women learning to grow and evolve with help from the other, a person, in both regards, that they never would have thought could teach them anything. Even the pregnancy aspect takes a ton of twists and turns never becoming the straight shot gimmick just bringing everyone together. The surrogate mother here must make some tough decisions as she continues along on her journey, lending a side to the tale that actually brings it to a level of intrigue that no Lorne Michaels film has done in recent memory.

I don't want to ruin the plot points of Angie Ostrowiski's pregnancy, but let's just say it isn't cut and dry. Her motives aren't genuine, something that is obvious from the start, just not quite in the way you anticipate. There are surprises for her and secrets hidden from the other characters as she wrestles within herself. A "white-trash" loser, attached to a man that believes waiting on the phone to be the 132.7 caller is a job, Angie learns a lot while with mom-to-be Kate Holbrook. Kate, being the professional VP of an organic food market, is a very detail orientated woman who is by the books and unafraid to tell others what they should do. It is an oil and water connection, but—like all good relationships of this kind—breeds some real funny and touching moments. Who thought watching Karaoke on the Playstation could be so much fun? Sure many instances feel like skits written separately and plugged in later, (the clubbing while pregnant, the press conference ambush, and the surrogate therapy session—probably the funniest scene without question), but they are surprisingly strung together to make a pretty coherent whole.

The other thing that the trailer hides is the inclusion of two great male roles. Did anyone know that Greg Kinnear and Steve Martin were in this thing? I for one was completely surprised by both, almost chuckling that they would have a small cameo until I realized that both were key roles to the whole. In the best turn of the film, Steve Martin is crazy, hippie genius. His earthy style of living, complete with long ponytail and soft speech, even when angered, is classic, as is everything uttered from his mouth. He is so good that I would be thrilled to have him offer me 5 uninterrupted minutes of staring into his eyes as a reward for a job well done. For Kinnear's part, he plays the usual love interest that is commonplace in films of this ilk. It's not flashy and it's not very original, but Greg is a stalwart and pulls off the good guy persona, even including a little bit of physical humor at the end.

Overall, though, this film is pretty standard fare. It goes into very broad comedy at times and very sappy/overly-sentimental drivel at others. There are some good jokes sprinkled throughout and for the most part keep it fun for the duration. Definitely feeling longer than it is, I never quite felt bored and I did begin to get invested in the story to see how it all would turn out. A lot of that can be credited to the chemistry between Tina Fey and Amy Pohler as Kate and Angie respectively. Both these women do a great job with their roles, fleshing out the psychotic relationship to perfection. One of the successful dynamics is how Fey becomes a mother figure to her surrogate. Even going so far as having temper tantrums and rubber-faced reactions, Pohler is a child.

It's also nice to see some fun moments from the supporting cast, but again nothing really sticks out to vault anything into must see territory. Sigourney Weaver is actually kinda scary in a very weird role; Romany Malco has plenty of great one-liners and facial expressions; and John Hodgeman is a bit odd in a small bit, with laughs coming more from the recognition of his Mac commercials than anything he does in the film. In the end, while nothing over-achieves, it all adds up to a pretty solid comedy worth a view. Is it necessary to see on the big screen? Probably not, but if you were worried that it might be a train-wreck, just know that it never takes any chances to risk derailing, and that's not a bad thing.

The good point - Romany Malco and his Oscar. The worst point - the final part. But, at first sigh, a nice, easy comedy with significant names in cast and with the so predictable end , against logic. So, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in the sauce of cliches.

There weren't too many people hotter than Tina Fey in 2008. Between the smash comedy 30 Rock, her impression of GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, and taking the lead for the first time in a movie with "Baby Mama," Fey and her iconic black-rimmed glasses have soared above and beyond Saturday Night Live. While the film "Baby Mama" might not be her most notable exploit, it's brand of subtle humor works in her favor and makes for an enjoyable film.

Fey plays Kate, a late thirties (her true age) businesswoman who has never been married and is also incapable of conceiving a child though she desperately wants one. When Kate stumbles across an agency specializing in surrogate pregnancy, she meets Angie, a high school dropout played by SNL's Amy Poehler, and the two agree that Angie will have Kate's baby. When Angie's trash boyfriend Carl (Dax Shepard) cheats on her, she moves in with Kate and the two have to reconcile their conflicting lifestyles.

Though Fey carries her own comedic presence in her reactions to the bizarre characters around her, it's Poehler's character that is meant to serve as comic relief in her mis-educated habits in life and in pregnancy. She provides a variety of physical humor and also gets some laughs at her character for her sheer ignorance, though it's pretty hit-or-miss with her. While in a lot of her work she can come off as annoying, she's a bit more mild in this film.

The rest of a cast is full of high profile actors in smaller roles and other familiar faces to boost the unproven star power of Fey and Poehler. Greg Kinnear plays Fey's love interest, who is just supposed to be a "nice guy" and nothing more and Maura Tierney of "ER" plays Fey's sister. Top that off with appearances by Steve Martin as Fey's zen/hippie boss and Sigourney Weaver as the head of the surrogate agency and there's plenty of time for "look who it is!" amazement as you watch.

"Baby Mama" doesn't throw anything unusual at us from a comedy stand point, especially being released not even a year after Judd Apatow's "Knocked Up" provided a similar concept, but it has its own subtle, very SNL-like comedic style. That might be easy to say because Fey, Poehler and creator Michael McCullers connections to the show, but like SNL sketches, "Baby Mama" relies on the talents of its actors in creating nutty characters and the way the "normal" characters perceive them. While this doesn't work all the time, it gets better toward the end and the plot keeps you interested enough to wear you certainly don't dismiss it and you may even really like it.