Baby Mama (2008) Movie Information:

Baby Mama (2008) Directed by: Michael McCullers Baby Mama (2008) Written by: Michael McCullers Baby Mama (2008) Cast: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Sigourney Weaver, Dax Shepard, Maura Tierney

Baby Mama (2008) U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures Baby Mama (2008) U.K. Distributor: UIP

Our Rating: User Rating:  Log in to rate this movie

Baby Mama (2008) Synopsis:

PLot will follow a single career woman whose desire to have a child and keep her career leads her to hire a surrogate.

Baby Mama (2008) Movie Review:

Played out like a female version of The Odd Couple, Baby Mama garners many chuckles and terrific comedic timing from its Saturday Night Live stars Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Most films attached to the name of SNL mogul Lorne Michaels includes some of his alums or current cast members, and the majority of these films in the past have been wrenched or failed. So it is nice to see somewhat a breath of fresh air with this film from Austin Powers’ co-writer Michael McCullers.

The film follows a 37 year old successful business executive named Kate Holbrook (Tina Fey), who moved up the corporate ladder instead of starting a family. With an infant staring at her at every turn, Kate has come to the point in her life where she wants a child. After her doctor tells her that she cannot have children because her fetus is shaped like a “T,” and not wanting to wait years for the adoption of a child, Kate looks for other options. The end result lands her at surrogate agency led by Chaffee Bicknell (Sigourney Weaver), who reminds her clients how fertile she is, though she is in her 50’s. The agency pairs Kate with the straight out of the trailer park and opposite Angie (Amy Poehler), who agrees to have her baby for a handsome fee. Angie’s slacker common-law husband Carl (Dax Shepard) has talked her into it as a get rich scheme. However, after the two break up, Kate finds Amy moving in with her and chaos comes along with it. Amy befriends Kate’s kind doorman, Oscar (Romany Malco), while Kate begins seeing a smoothie shop owner named Rob (Greg Kinnear), all while continuing to impress her hippie boss Barry (Steve Martin). The opposites eventually begin to become friends though driving each other crazy with their different values and way of life all in the best of the coming baby.

Writer/director McCullers pretty much just lets his two leads loose with improvisation and captures their best moments on film. There is nothing flashy or special about McCullers directorial work, but he does keep them film for the most part light without any complications. Though the script is blueprinted as a SNL sketch that is stretched out over ninety minutes, there are some nicely blended humorous moments, such as when the Kate and Angie go to birthing class together or out dancing. Kate’s boss’ antics become tiresome at times, as does Angie’s mentally incapable husband. There are really no laugh out loud funny moments throughout Baby Mama, but there are enough grins and chuckles to make it work.

The bright spots of the film are of course the work by Fey and Poehler, who first made audiences laugh as co-anchors on SNL weekly news parody. Fey, who has now moved over to the very successful 30 Rock, shines as Kate and Poehler bounces off her with great energy. As for the supporting cast, Steve Martin chews the scenery as Fey’s boss, and Greg Kinnear serves his role as her love interest. Dax Shepherd is at times over the top, but has a few good lines as Carl, and Sigourney Weaver makes an appearance as the founder of the successful surrogate agency.

Baby Mama is a far better comedy than other SNL (Lorne Michaels) past films that does the smart thing, by working around Fey and Poehler’s talents, rather than forcing on them a half-baked script. The film should be hit, especially with parents and those that are expecting.

Our Rating: User Rating:  Log in to rate this movie

Baby Mama (2008) review written by: Bailey Henderson