Tina Fey is a talented comedienne who has, in my opinion, bettered her career and exposed her true comic abilities since stepping down as head writer of SNL. Since my surprisingly pleasant reception of Mean Girls, a film scripted by Fey during her SNL run, it dawned on me that the writer has the most potential when pre-scripting a draft as opposed to winging improve comedy on live television. This is precisely why her single-camera, scripted series 30 Rock is one of the most winning shows on television. Yes, it is true that Tina Fey can scribble up some solid material, but what about her acting. For the first time, she steps into the shoes of leading lady AND is actually not the originator of the content in the film Baby Mama. As it turns out, when choosing the right roles, scripts, and co-stars, Fey has quite the comic presence onscreen as well as off.
Tina Fey plays Kate Holbrook, an ambitious VP for a health foods company. Kate comes to the realization that she is in her late 30's, and has passed up the opportunity to cherish motherhood in exchange for climbing the corporate ladder. Suddenly her biological clock is ticking and she has baby fever. With adoption and self-pregnancy eliminated as possible options, she turns to a surrogate service headed by a Chaffee Bicknell (Sigourney Weaver), a senior citizen whose aging uterus still manages to nourish one child after another.
After the surrogate service performs its matching, she is introduced to Angie (Amy Poehler) and her obnoxious boyfriend Carl (Dax Shepherd). Kate desperately lets Angie become the carrier of her future child. Suddenly the film becomes a female rendition of The Odd Couple. One plot device leads to another, and the pregnant Angie ends up crashing at Kate's upscale apartment for the duration of the pregnancy. Kate is a neat freak snob and Angie is a snob. I smell a sitcom! However, despite their differences, the two must learn to overcome their differences and focus on the reason they are cohabitating in the first place: for the little bundle of joy.
Baby Mama has a pretty sweet and simply premise, and that would be why I mildly recommend the film. It does not break comedic ground and it did not have me rolling on the floor laughing. However, its intentions are harmless and the humor is on the light side. I may not have cracked up, but I guarantee I had a smile on my face from start to finish. Writer/director Michael McCullers makes his directorial debut after various writing stints, including a gig for SNL alongside old chum Tina Fey. It is clear that the director has a flare for sketch comedy. Every character has a certain quirk, and every one of them could probably dominate a 5-minute single sketch.
Speaking of these characters, the casting is rather on the spot. Tina Fey at t first appears to be sinking alone in the ocean as she alone does not have the capability to carry the first 20 minutes of the film on her shoulders. Once Amy Poehler steps into the picture, everything begins to change. Poehler is the insufferable ying to Fey's yang, yet they manage to balance each other out perfectly. The chemistry between these two is more than just a trite dichotomy of black and white. They clearly know how to play their roles in unison without overstepping their boundaries. Credit also goes to the talented supporting cast. This includes Greg Kinnear in usual nice guy mode as a smoothie store owner who captures Kate's heart. Romany Malco also chews up scenery as Kate's doorman whose impeccable comic timing makes for some mint one-liners. Last, but not least, there is the great Steve Martin donning a pony tail as Kate's money-loving, hippie boss. It is a performance like this that makes me wonder why Martin stoops to such lows as The Pink Panther when he is clearly still a comic genius.
Baby Mama is not nearly as effective and well-rounded as last week's classic Forgetting Sarah Marshall. However, it is a nice fix for older members of the family in the mood for some light, PG-13 comedy. I must admit that I once saw little talent in Fey's presence on SNL. Consider me converted as I do see potential in her latest writing and acting endeavors. Amy Poehler is also terrific as she usually is. I give this a recommendation because it doesn't do anything to make me dislike it. The film makes for a solid 90 minutes that will surely crack a few smiles.
Questions? Comments? Just want to talk movies? Drop me a line at dodd@movieweb.com
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