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A few months
ago, my wife complained that I didn't review enough
movies that she'd like to eventually watch.
"What? You don't like 'Transformers' or 'Mr. Bean's
Holiday?'" I asked with an innocent smile.
"No. More like girl movies."
"Like one of those Jane Austen movies where actors dress
in stuffy clothes and talk like they're in a Woody Allen
movie with British accents?" I asked.
"No. Romantic movies. Chick flicks. Movies that are
funny, but for girls," she said.
A few months had passed and I thought I'd hit the
jackpot with "Baby Mama," now on DVD and Blu-ray. This
is a review of the DVD.
Normally I review all of the movies I get on my doorstep
from the mailman. While I was gone for the day, my wife
got her hands on "Baby Mama" and watched it before I
did. It wasn't like I was in a rush to see it, so I
figured I'd get her opinion on it.
"It's bad," she said.
"Bad? Like good 'bad,' or 'bad-bad?'"
"Bad-bad."
It couldn't have been that bad. My wife is far more
forgiving when it comes to movies. She's not nearly as
picky as me. She also likes movies on Lifetime and WE,
crying and moping around the house after watching the
modern day equivalent of "Disease of the Week" movies. I
like high-quality classic movies like "Lawrence of
Arabia" and "Lethal Weapon." Our taste in film diverges.
So how could a multimillion dollar feature comedy from
the genius writer of the "Austin Powers" movies, and the
comedy talent of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, be so bad?
I watched it with an open mind and didn't find it to be
as bad as my wife did. After all, I'm the movie critic
on this site and in our house. So, in essence, mine is
the final word when it comes to DVD reviews. Would my
wife's opinion matter in this review?
Fey plays a successful business woman in her late-30s
who wants to have a baby. She can't have a baby because,
well, she can't. She's also not married or has somebody
waiting in the bullpen. She finds an expensive surrogate
mother agency that could fit the bill. In the process
she meets Poehler and her wacky Gen-X slacker husband,
played by Dax Shepard. Fey is the uptight, anal
retentive ladder climber with a heart-of-gold when it
comes to wanting a child. Poehler is the trailer trash
girl trying to change her life around.
The movie suffers on numerous levels, but I wouldn't say
it's a bad movie. Unfunny. Predictable. Occasionally
sappy. The cast is good, though the material doesn't
give them much to work with. Considering the amount of
talent involved with the movie, you'd think it would be
a lot funnier. But it's not. The movie actually plods
along at a slow pace, and it's easy to figure out what's
coming up around the corner. I didn't care what happened
to any of the characters.
Fey is good in the role of a successful person who wants
more in life than just money and easy job promotions
(promotions are always easy in these kind of movies). I
haven't watched "Saturday Night Live" in years, nor have
I watched "30 Rock" because I don't like Alec Baldwin.
So I've never seen the "comedy genius" of Fey. If she's
funny, she doesn't show it here. I've caught Poehler in
clips from "SNL" and didn't find her to be all that
funny. But she's good in her role here and show some
range. Greg Kinnear plays pretty much Greg Kinnear. He's
a perfectly good actor, though he doesn't seem to
stretch out his roles too much. Dax Shepard plays the
slacker hubby. He's not as annoying as I thought he
might be.
"Baby Mama" feels like a mom/baby movie I've seen
before. There's a "Baby Boom/Three Men and a Baby" vibe
to the whole affair. How many times must we endure the
mom having a baby and going crazy on everyone in the
hospital scene? I'm sure some people might find it
funny. I didn't, nor did my wife (who didn't curse me
out when she was delivering our daughter).
The movie might've been more interesting, and I'm going
out on a limb, if the story focused on Amy Poehler's
character. She's really the character in the whole movie
who has a good story arc (that's a scriptwriting 101
term for ya). I didn't care what the heck happened to
Fey in her quest for a baby. All I really noticed was
those glasses of hers and the fact she does a lot of
walking through the movie.
The movie is decent enough, I suppose, for a late night
viewing once you've exhausted your other movie rentals.
Or it's one of the movies you'd see on a long plane
flight. So hon, I got a movie to review for you in "Baby
Mama." You didn't like it, and I only liked it a bit
more than you did. Next time, I'm
reviewing a movie I want to watch.
Bill Kallay
Special thanks to Click Communications
Photos: © Universal Studios. All rights reserved.
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