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Baby Mama (2008)

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37 out of 57 people found the following comment useful :-
My avatar is dressed like a whore…Baby Mama, 22 April 2008

Author: babubhaut from buffalo, ny, usa

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.

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16 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
Somewhat entertaining but disappointing, 25 April 2008

Author: kermitf (manny43076@yahoo.com) from United States

I like Tina Fey. I like Tina Fey a lot. 30 Rock is my favorite show, I loved the writing in Mean Girls and her role in it. And even though she isn't listed as a writer in Baby Mama, I assumed she had some input and I was sure that this would be a smart, funny, movie. Well I was wrong. It was watchable and she showed that she has the potential of being a lead in an romantic comedy, but the writing was weak and Amy Poehler didn't add much to the movie. I have no problem with formulaic comedies. But I would at least like them to be funny. If this movie stared anyone besides Tina Fey I would have probably walked out. But I hope it does well, so maybe we can see Ms. Fey in more movies. Hopefully next time she decides to write it.

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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
wait to rent, 28 May 2008

Author: kaitlynn lane from United States

To be gifted with the ability to make people laugh is an honor, and with films, script writers can't know for sure what will evoke an uproar from the audience. A lot of times things are a hit in miss with humor. I'm not saying this movie isn't funny, because i did laugh. However, i didn't laugh as hard as i thought i would. The lack of giggles this movie inspired in me is enough to provoke me to label this movie as a letdown. It's not that this movie is bad, or an awful way to spend an evening. It's that movies are an art-form and there is no art to be found. I think a movie is great if two days later you're still actively trying to find someone to talk about it with. i was ready for the movie to end twenty minutes before the credits rolled.

I know what you're thinking. It is a comedy.It is not meant to be insightful. All this is true, but it still didn't meet the specific requirement that ever movie has to. It has to be worth the 8.50 cover charge, and it isn't. I recommend taking that money to a local bar, and buying a pretty lady a drink.

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9 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
A Very Funny Film: The Perfect Anti-Apatow, 13 May 2008

Author: Welcome_to_Dogville from United States

Not that I have anything against Apatow (in fact, I'd throw Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up and Superbad and my list of the greatest comedies of all time), but it was a nice break to have a comedy with out raunch.

Tina Fey (who is HOT) turns in a great performance, echoed strongly by the comedic talents of Amy Poehler. And the three supporting characters, Steve Martin, Sigourney Weaver and Greg Kinnear area also great.

Don't let the commercials fool you - the jokes are infinity funnier than the ones in the trailers. They're fast and smart.

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11 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
Better than expected, 30 April 2008

Author: Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) from Chicago, Illinois

When I first saw the trailer for Baby Mama, I just thought this movie was going to be a total disaster, it didn't look funny and like another typical chick flick. But my friends wanted to see it, so we saw it opening weekend, and actually I was surprised, I did like a lot better than what I was expecting. Baby Mama is something that looks like from the Lifetime Network, but it's all good, it has some really funny moments and was just cute. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are two very funny women from Saturday Night Live, they also did Mean Girls together and made their characters an absolute joy to watch, so seeing them as the leads in this film was going to be an interesting turn. Tina Fey definitely has a lot of talent not only as a writer, but as an actress, she made her character believable and as neuritic as she was, she was still likable. Amy Poehler made her character a little too SNL at times, but these girls made the movie enjoyable and a fun flick to watch for the afternoon.

Kate is a single and successful woman who seems to have it all in life, but one thing she wants so bad is a baby. But one problem, her uterus isn't liked by her doctor, in other words, she has a one in a million chance of getting pregnant. After adoption woes and sperm donor failures, she decides to get a sergeant mother who will get pregnant and give her a child. She meets white trash couple, Angie and Carl. Angie moves into Kate's apartment after her break up with Carl, so this "odd couple" has to teach each other some new moves in life.

Baby Mama is actually worth the watch, I was very impressed with how much I liked it, like I said, from the trailer, it doesn't seem like a good movie, but when you watch it, you get the laughs and the smiles that the movie promises. It is a chick flick, warning to people who have a strong hatred for them, but I'm not a fan of chick flicks, and you know what? I thought that this was just a fun movie that if you let go and even enjoy the predictability, you'll find yourself loving Baby Mama.

7/10

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Not Quite Groundbreaking, But Exceeds Expectations, 4 May 2008

Author: polarimetric (polarimetric@gmail.com) from http://www.aurality.org

Saturday Night Live, whether or not you consider it still funny, is going through a great period. Ratings are fairly high coming off of the writers' strike. The show is riding the Democratic nomination race wave pretty well, featuring either Clinton, Obama, or both in at least one sketch per episode. Due to their recent successes, it makes sense that SNL's comedians want to branch out into movies like they successfully did in the 90s with Wayne's World. Baby Mama serves as one of these movies, featuring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler at the helm and at least two more members from the SNL team in the background, namely Will Forte and Fred Armisen. Steve Martin, a frequent SNL host, can also be found in this movie. After reading the character list, it's clear where the SNL comparisons and references come from.

Considering its origins and its genre abroad, I went into the theater with relatively low expectations. At most, I hoped for a sort of feel-good comedy that had a lot of laugh scenes that made up for some corny drama scenes. I got the laugh scenes, but surprisingly, the drama scenes weren't very corny. Baby Mama, as can be determined from the title, deals with Kate Holbrook (Tina Fey's character), a powerful businesswoman and executive in an organic foods company and her burning desire to have a baby and build a family, regardless of the difficulties. Unlike most comedies, this is actually a surprisingly serious topic, which enhances the dramatic parts of the plot quite a bit. You can actually take the characters and the story line quite seriously. Actually, Kate's character is almost entirely serious, aside from the occasional jokes on how uptight and socially inept she can be. Most of the laughs come from Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Poehler's character), a not exactly high-class girl working for Chaffee Bicknell's (played by Sigourney Weaver) surrogacy agency that offers to be Kate's surrogate after Kate attempts and fails to get pregnant multiple times. As can be expected from Poehler, Angie is completely and totally ridiculous. Poehler is actually extremely good in this role, since she manages to play a "white trash" stereotypical character without coming off as corny, or at least most of the time.

Don't get me wrong; there are times when you can't help but cringe. A small portion of the humor is just far too corny, and can't make you laugh no matter how ready you are to laugh. However, anyone who watches Saturday Night Live is already used to this, since everyone knows that not every SNL skit is funny. Not by a long shot. However, the entire movie is irresistibly cute. The character development is fantastic, and Poehler and Fey working together really carries the entire movie. In fact, the men in the story are almost entirely irrelevant. Carl (played by Dax Shepard), Angie's low-class, tactless boyfriend, could have been much funnier than he actually is. Rob (played by Greg Kinnear), although a nice character and a nice addition, really only serves as an attractive male (and yes, he is very attractive in this movie) and someone to move the story along a little bit. Barry (played by Steve Martin), the president of the organic food company Kate works for, is an absolutely insane hippie that provides a lot of humor to the parts of the movie where Kate is at work. Five minutes of uninterrupted eye contact, anyone? (You'll get it when you watch the movie.)

At the end of the movie, you do really feel for the characters, or at least Angie and Kate. The other characters are sort of background even at the end, but they're still necessary, since there would be no offset to the Fey-Poehler humor that can just be taken in small doses to avoid becoming too corny to be enjoyable. I did find myself screaming on the inside a little at the end, because there's a gigantic time gap that left a lot of questions unanswered and irritated me quite a lot, but in reality, in order to fill out the entire story, this would either have to be a 3 hour movie, or there would have to be a sequel. This isn't the kind of movie to have a sequel, so I can see why they did it. I just think that some of the time that they wasted on Carl could have been used to develop that a little more.

Overall, Baby Mama is cute, and that's all I can see it ever trying for. It also seems to me to test the waters a little bit for a Fey and Poehler match-up that, when smoothed out a little around the edges, will be a very strong comedy duo. I did enjoy this film very much, and I would highly recommend it to someone who watches SNL frequently and likes Poehler's style of humor, or someone who just wants to go to the movies to have fun and feel good. It's certainly worth it. However, what I find more significant at the moment is my excitement for films in the future that will feature Fey and Poehler, and I truly hope that the film industry doesn't miss out on this potentially hilarious team. I'll be eagerly awaiting the day when I see them working together again - this is a first time, and it can only get better from here.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
A Buddy Comedy with a Healthy Dose of Estrogen, 1 May 2008

Author: brocksilvey from United States

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler prove that buddy comedies need not be the exclusive domain of naughty boys.

"Baby Mama" is no comic masterpiece, but it's at least as good as any number of formulaic comedies churned out by Hollywood and much better than many others. Fey is the uptight career woman who hears her biological clock ticking at 37 and wants to have a baby before it's too late. Poehler is the low-class, free-wheeling blonde who agrees to be her surrogate mother for a hefty fee. The usual odd-couple conflicts ensue, maternal instincts kick in, and in traditional sitcom style, everyone gets what they want in the end.

The movie is mostly an excuse to give Fey and Poehler the chance to riff off of one another, and they do it well. Poehler especially displays the ability to carry a movie, something most SNL veterans aren't able to do. She's funny, but she's also able to embody an actual character rather than simply do skit-T.V. schtick. Just watch her horrified face the first time she tastes water; or the hilarious scene when Fey wrestles her into the shower and begins to scrub the hair dye off of her head in a scene that spoofs "Silkwood."

Also starring Greg Kinnear as a smoothie store owner, and a whacked out Steve Martin as Fey's new age boss.

Grade: A-

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5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Funny and most definitely entertaining, 7 May 2008

Author: Moviefreak4653 from United States

I had mild expectations for Baby Mama like it looked like it would not be as funny as i would have thought, and the humor would be kinda unfunny and just tasteless, well i was wrong.I found Baby Mama to be none of those things for it had fresh comedy and good acting.In fact Tina Fey and Amy Pohler may be the next big thing in Hollywood comedy, which i hope happens.Like the film they both were so entertaining and funny to watch, and had nice and cool character structure.Thought at times the story seemed a little out there and some stuff in the plot was a little predictable its still a good film.Overall everybody should see this film if they are wanting a good laugh, and they didn't show all the funny parts in the previews.So go out and watch Baby Mama because its worth anyones time and money, and you will be glad you have seen it. 7.7 out of 10 stars

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7 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Tina Fey is hot!, 26 April 2008

Author: C-Younkin from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"Baby Mama" is Tina Fey's first lead film role. It's well-deserved after her work on "Mean Girls" and "30 Rock", and she, along with co-star and former SNL cast mate Amy Poehler, do a really nice job of anchoring this one. Fey plays Kate Holbrook, a successful businesswoman who also happens to be a struggling single one. At 37, Kate decides it's time to try and have a child on her own, but her plans are smashed when she finds out there is only a small chance that she can actually become pregnant. With no other option, Kate finds an unlikely surrogate in Angie (Amy Poehler), a trashy and low-rent girl who could really use the money. After learning that Angie is pregnant, Kate begins baby-prepping. Only what she doesn't expect is the arrival of a pregnant Angie at her door with no place to go.

Director and screenwriter Michael McCullers suggests to us early that "Baby Mama" is going to be a tired trip down formula-lane. Kate is an order-nut, Angie is a messy free-spirit, put them together and you have the most predictable storyline ever told. Thankfully enough, McCullers proves clever in finding some fresh laughs here, whether they be from the scary and awkward process of connecting your life with a complete stranger or in the "trivialized" world of modern pregnancy where baby-proofing, the fears of bad eating habits and chemicals in house-hold products, and research books and videos have become exaggerated to the point of causing constant anxiety. The movie is actually damn funny and when it's not it's usually really lovable and it's nice to see a comedy that relies more on wit than on the next crude gag for a change.

Fey and Poehler are also a fantastic match. Fey plays self-deprecating and un-hip better than any actress out there and Poehler is a loonier and more zany comedic actress, and their previous work experience on SNL really shows here. Like some of the better buddy comedies of the past, they establish a chemistry that is as friendly and amusing as it is rocky. Having Greg Kinnear play Fey's love interest and Dax Shepherd play Poehler's idiot boyfriend is also perfect casting, as I had just as much fun watching these two comedic actresses toss around with them as I did with each other. And having two veteran and respected actors in your movie helps too. Sigourney Weaver as an older woman whose still as fertile as ever, and Steve Martin as Fey's hippie, vegan boss are both absolutely hilarious.

"Baby Mama" begins with an "oh no" but quickly settles into something witty and lovable. The script is smart and funny and the cast couldn't be better, especially Fey and Poehler, who seem very comfortable playing off one another. This movie is a good start to two promising careers, and with any luck, two careers that will hopefully cross paths again in another movie someday.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
My crush on Tina Fey has nothing to do with it, 23 May 2008

Author: Terry Meehan from Lakewood, Ohio

Java Man Reviews "Baby Mama" (Rated PG-13). Directed & Written by Michael McCullers. Starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Romany Malco, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Martin, Maura Tierney, Holland Taylor, John Hodgman & Siobhan Fallon Hogan. Originally appeared in LakewoodBuzz.com May, 2008.

OVERVIEW:

Kate Holbrook (Fey) is a single, attractive 37-year-old vice-president of a fast-growing organic foods chain. When her humorously eccentric, pony-tailed boss (Martin) puts her in charge of the opening of a new store in Philadelphia, he tells her that it's "her baby." But Kate's biological clock is already ticking and what's on her mind is a real baby. After a trip to a sperm bank and a fertility specialist (Hodgman), she finds that her chances of conceiving are one in a million.

Her next stop is a surrogacy agency, headed by Chafee Bicknell (Weaver), a woman in her 50s who aggravates her clients by being constantly pregnant. The surrogate mother assigned to Kate is Angie Ostrowiski (Poehler), a wisecracking working girl from the wrong side of town. When she splits from her loutish common-law husband (Shepard), Angie moves in with Kate, who has already begun to baby-proof her uptown apartment. Once they find themselves in the same living space, the two former SNL Weekend Update anchors channel Oscar and Felix, the original Odd Couple. Of course the rules of movie romance dictate that Kate must stumble across a love interest, which she does, in the person of Rob (Kinnear), a fruit-drink shop owner in the neighborhood where Kate's new store is going up.

REVIEW: 3 out of 4 Java Mugs

This movie is like a disappointing party... All the right people are there, but it just isn't as much fun as it should be. Writer-director McCullers has created more than a few fascinating characters, but has not mixed them together in ways that generate the energy for a great gathering. The movie also has a predictable arc, and even though there are two major plot twists they will come as a surprise to no one.

And yet, I liked this movie. One reason is Tina Fey. (Okay, I do have a crush on her, but that has nothing to do with it!) She is one of the most watchable actors at work today, both on TV and in the movies. There is genuine comic chemistry between her and Poehler, and we can only hope for future films that feature them.

Though it all wraps up just a bit too neatly, along the way there are some captivating characters, very well-played. These include a pony-tailed Steve Martin as the whole-foods, new-age guru who rewards his top employees not with cash bonuses, but with five minutes of eye contact. Sigourney Weaver is also wonderful as the head of the surrogacy agency who charges $100,000 for its services. "That's more than it cost to have a person killed, " jokes Kate. "That's because it takes longer," deadpans Weaver. Some of the film's best laughs come courtesy of Oscar (Malco), the doorman at Kate's building who knows way more than he should about the odd couple upstairs.

One minor character should look familiar, if you watch any TV at all. Kate's gynecologist is John Hodgman, the guy who plays "PC" in the ubiquitous Apple commercials. He provides Kate's prognosis with the words, "I don't like your uterus."

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