Reviewed by Cassam Looch
Stars Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard,
Sigourney Weaver, Maura Tierney, Steve Martin,
Romany Malco, Stephen Mailer, Holland Taylor
Written by Michael McCullers
Certification UK 12A | US PG-13
Runtime 99 minutes
Directed by Michael McCullers
An endearing and, above all, FUNNY comedy is indeed a rarity. So step forward Baby Mama, which not only fills that void, but also announces Tina Fey as a major player on the big screen following her triumphant and award-winning success on TV, first with Saturday Night Live and then 30 Rock.
Successful and single businesswoman Kate Holbrook (Fey) has long put her career ahead of a personal life. Now 37, she's finally determined to have a kid on her own. But her plan is thrown a curve ball after she discovers she has only a million-to-one chance of getting pregnant. Kate is introduced via a high-end surrogacy service to working girl Angie (Poehler) to become her unlikely "baby mama". After learning from the steely head of their surrogacy centre that Angie is pregnant, a delighted Kate goes into precision nesting mode: reading childcare books, baby-proofing the apartment and researching top pre-schools. But the executive's well-organised strategy is turned upside down when Angie shows up at her doorstep with no place to live. Angie not only begins to take over home-life but also work, and soon the unlikely pair begin to fall out, jeopardising the plan and arrangements they have in place.
The plot is certainly by-the-numbers, and the denouement hardly surprising, but the journey there is fun nonetheless. Apart from the great chemistry between Fey and Poehler as the modern-day odd couple, there are two great performances from Weaver and Martin — the latter, playing the new-age boss of Kate’s company, has not been this funny for years. Fey is utterly likeable throughout, and her onscreen persona makes the familiar script some to life.
Baby Mama is a very good romantic comedy that should put a smile on most peoples faces. Perhaps not packed with laugh-out-loud moments (although there are a handful of those as well) it's still one of the funniest films of the year … take our word for it, we’ve seen everything else up to this point. And oh, how we have suffered.