Spoilers ahead.
“Baby Mama” is yet another movie squarely in the Romantic Comedy mold. Two strangers form an odd couple through plot machinations (Tina Fey hires Amy Poehler to be her surrogate mother). A series of lies and impossibilities builds to a scene of revelation (the baby isn’t actually Fey’s). Finally, serendipitous and thematically germane plot “surprises” tie up the story (Fey actually does become pregnant).
It also has a terrible title that makes it sound like a sequel to “My Baby’s Daddy,” a movie to which nobody wants a sequel.
Making a movie like this is playing with a stacked deck. The only way to combat the unyielding conventions is to get the little things right. To that end, “Baby Mama” is rich with supporting characters. Steve Martin is almost phoning it in, but his new-age Whole Foods-ripoff owner is still the most consistently funny character in the film. Martin’s ability to deliver lines like, “I was talking with Jimmy Buffett this morning about trans fats…” is without peer. Sigourney Weaver is also amusing as a loopy and well-meaning surrogate finder. The jokes about her age vis-à-vis her fertility are consistently on target--Fey and Poehler even bond at a particularly low moment by commenting on this.
In a rare stroke, “Baby Mama” does not take place in New York. Although Philadelphia has been used in plenty of movies, the setting is still novel enough. And it isn’t New York. With close attention to detail, the movie gets in some quick throwaway gags with Greg Kinnear’s Pennsylvania-themed fruit smoothie names. (BTW, the best movie about Philadelphia is “Philadelphia.”)
“Baby Mama” is yet another movie squarely in the Romantic Comedy mold. Two strangers form an odd couple through plot machinations (Tina Fey hires Amy Poehler to be her surrogate mother). A series of lies and impossibilities builds to a scene of revelation (the baby isn’t actually Fey’s). Finally, serendipitous and thematically germane plot “surprises” tie up the story (Fey actually does become pregnant).
It also has a terrible title that makes it sound like a sequel to “My Baby’s Daddy,” a movie to which nobody wants a sequel.
Making a movie like this is playing with a stacked deck. The only way to combat the unyielding conventions is to get the little things right. To that end, “Baby Mama” is rich with supporting characters. Steve Martin is almost phoning it in, but his new-age Whole Foods-ripoff owner is still the most consistently funny character in the film. Martin’s ability to deliver lines like, “I was talking with Jimmy Buffett this morning about trans fats…” is without peer. Sigourney Weaver is also amusing as a loopy and well-meaning surrogate finder. The jokes about her age vis-à-vis her fertility are consistently on target--Fey and Poehler even bond at a particularly low moment by commenting on this.
In a rare stroke, “Baby Mama” does not take place in New York. Although Philadelphia has been used in plenty of movies, the setting is still novel enough. And it isn’t New York. With close attention to detail, the movie gets in some quick throwaway gags with Greg Kinnear’s Pennsylvania-themed fruit smoothie names. (BTW, the best movie about Philadelphia is “Philadelphia.”)
1 comment:
Tina Fey was disappointing. She is WAY funnier than that.
PS Have you seen the grammar mistake on the kids' computers yet?! It's appalling. An adult customer saw it, and loudly exclaimed, "Oh...My....Goooood!"
She's my new favorite customer.
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