ALARIS' REVIEWS

30th April 2010
Baby Mama (2008)

I'm a fan of quirky writer/actor Tina Fey, and I love my 30Rock (2006) fix, so I was pleased to hear that Fey was expanding her film repertoire. Unfortunately, I have very little praise for the comedy movie Baby Mama .

Kate Holbrook (Fey) is a sensible, high powered executive in her late thirties, desperate to start a family, but unable to find a partner or secure an adoption. When the bombshell drops that she's also infertile, Holbrook decides her only remaining option is to contract a surrogate. However, when the surrogate turns out to be a smoking, drinking, junk food junkie with the emotional maturity of a three year old, comedy was supposed to ensue.

Unfortunately, comedy didn't show up, and was probably still asleep on a park bench after a big night out.

One of Baby Mama 's core failings is the fact that it isn't very funny, which is pretty dismal for a comedy. While Fey is always fun to watch, the surrogate - Angie (Amy Poehler) - is an unsympathetic and uninteresting character, whose antics aren't terribly entertaining. The jokes are pretty flat, and the drama is pedestrian. Some of the plot twists show potential, but it's not enough to offset the lacklustre writing and directing. I also note that Fey didn't write this script.

Baby Mama could have been a fun, breezy movie, but the execution was too bland for the big screen.

Verdict: A very ordinary movie that doesn't quite live up the descriptor 'comedy'.

If you worship Tina Fey, you might like this.

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