Baby Mama
Directed by Michael McCullers
Universal, 2008
By Lia Munro
As summer approaches, we start seeing the typical summer blockbusters emerge onto the big screen — your Indiana Joneses, Batmen, and Apatowsers — that are destined to make lots of money. Filling the romantic-comedy-with-a-twist place in the summer hitlist is Baby Mama, the latest thing to come from Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels and his cast (or ex-cast) of funny people.
The film’s stars, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, play complete opposites. Kate (Fey) is a successful businesswoman with a perfect apartment and a rising career, but is lacking a love life, a social life, or any sort of life, and has a defective uterus. Angie, (Poehler) is white trash with an even whiter trash boyfriend: no money, no manners, no education, and a very productive uterus that she is willing to use in order to make some cash.
The rest of the cast is riddled with quirky, stereotypical comedic characters. Steve Martin is Kate’s spiritual, mega-tycoon boss, who prefers sitting cross-legged on the board room table to sitting in a chair. Siobhan Fallon plays the birthing teacher whose only comedic aspect is her extreme lisp; and Holland Taylor, as Kate’s mom, seems like she just walked off the set of Two and a Half Men and onto the set of Baby Mama. Same wardrobe, same hair, same character. Romany Malco, on the other hand (playing the doorman Oscar who seems to have trouble finding the door), provides a no-bullshit view on the proceedings of the film. He spends most of his time in Kate’s apartment, helping himself to drinks, attending baby showers, and being the go-to guy for advice on all matters, especially when it comes to baby mamas, something he has some experience with. Malco provides much-needed comic relief in many scenes where Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are actually serious.
With two successful female comedians starring in a big-budget film, I went into Baby Mama expecting something hilarious and perhaps a bit feminist, although that was probably just me imposing my own opinions onto a film about a woman trying to have a baby without a partner. I came out with that fuzzy, cheesy feeling that often occurs after a romantic comedy. Although Greg Kinnear provides a romantic sub-plot for Kate, what really created that feeling was the friendship formed by the two female leads. Kate and Angie develop a relationship that brings out sides in both characters that are very dormant, but nonetheless there. McCullers’ writing pulled this off well; at no point do either Kate or Angie do anything that seems uncharacteristic or contradictory to their core personalities. We see all sides of these women, which is rare in comedies. The hilarity is a bit slow to emerge but as Amy Poehler’s stomach grows, so do the jokes!
Look no further for your dose of summer cheese — Baby Mama has what you need. It carries the fun and the light entertainment, and even packs a bit of depth into its typical romantic-comedy-with-a-twist package.
