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Tina Fey, left, and Amy Poehler star in "Baby Mama." |
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And baby makes three, maybe
Movie Review
By Loren King
Banner Correspondent
Like most of the “Saturday Night Live”-spawned big screen comedies, much of what is truly funny and original in “Baby Mama” could be compressed into an hour. But unlike other SNL-style entertainments starring Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Jimmy Fallon and all their frat boy counterparts, there is an actual relationship between co-stars Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and some moments of genuine humor and humanity.
Fey is career woman Kate, the vice president of a health food store chain called Round Earth who, we’re told in a voiceover that never makes it past the first reel, chose promotions over pregnancy. Now she wants to add a baby to her achievements — she’s 37 and her clock is ticking — but plans are muddled with the news that she’s infertile.
She enlists the help of a high-powered surrogate agent (Sigourney Weaver, dusting off her smarmy boss from “Working Girl”) who pairs Kate with Angie (Poehler), as blonde, tacky and tawdry as Kate is brunette, rigid and nerdy. This sets up the movie’s comic purpose: the uptight yuppie and her trashy but goodhearted houseguest clashing cute and swapping lessons.
It’s “The Odd Couple” lite sprinkled with “The Nanny Diaries” meets “Juno.” It’s contrived and not nearly as funny as it should be, but Fey and especially Poehler manage to generate enough chemistry and charisma to make it work.
Writer-director Michael McCullers delivers the predictable mismatched roommates comedy once Angie turns up at Kate’s doorstep. She’s walked out on her deadbeat boyfriend and Kate is only too eager to try to steer her surrogate onto a healthy pregnancy path. We get pleasant but bland humor when Kate tries to force-feed vitamins to the resistant Angie, who prefers scarfing junk food, and when the pair attend a surrogate support group and a birthing class.
Much of this feels like a distaff “Knocked Up” as Kate and Angie devour baby books, have hormone-enhanced arguments, reluctantly bond, and rub off a little on each other.
But McCullers never goes for more than the obvious in their forced arrangement. Even once we learn that Angie has been less than honest with Kate, the movie never delves beneath the surface of the tense, complicated surrogacy relationship. Even the class conflict, which is the film’s sharpest comic point, is kept dulled and target-demographic friendly, never going for more bite than jokes about health drinks versus junk food.
Still, Fey and Poehler do their best with the serviceably funny script, and never resort to turning their characters into cartoons. Fey brings vulnerability to her high-achieving Kate, and Poehler not only earns solid laughs but makes the rough-edged Angie sympathetic. The supporting players, particularly Steve Martin as a health food guru and food store mogul and Greg Kinnear as Kate’s nice-guy love interest, have fun in minor roles.
There isn’t much more to the film beyond the funny sketch of Kate and Angie trying to live together and develop a friendship. Once McCullers drags them around and into court in the film’s second half, the proceedings stumble, and he resorts to schmaltzy montages in place of real comedy and drama. Fey and Poehler no doubt can get better material these days on TV than in comedies made for the masses, but their talents are certainly big-screen worthy.
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May 1st, 2008