The success of movies like Superbad and most recently Forgetting Sarah Marshall heralds in a new, brainier approach to comedy. Judd Apatow, the man behind these movies, has identified a definitive blend of slapstick and the humor behind uncomfortable situations that keeps young and old buckled over in their seats.
Tina Fey's new movie Baby Mama mines these same tropes to find comedy gold. I was expecting the movie to just be about Fey's character (Kate Holbrook) having to deal with the loveable redneck childbearer Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Pohler).
Thankfully, the plot develops and even though it has a tendency to get a bit hokey (an independent juice bar owner played by Greg Kinnear keeps railing against "the man" aka Jamba Juice) there is always something that saves it from itself. In this case, it's the brilliant turn by Steve Martin as Barry, the owner of the franchise that Kate works for.
Martin plays a new-agey millionaire entrepreneur that owns a franchise of Whole-Foods-esque markets. The Saturday Night Live legend owns the role.
SNL executive producer Lorne Micheals also produced this one, but this is Fey's film through and through. Kate is as neurotic as you would expect Fey to be in real life. Romany Malco cashes another check as the black dude that understands these crazy White women (you might recognize him from the Showtime series "Weeds" and 40-Year-Old Virgin).
Poehler's Angie is funny, but loveable. I won't give away plot points, but you end up rooting for someone that totally screwed up both her life and the Kate's life. The way that Kate parties it up when the two women go out dancing had everyone rolling.
Medical and ethical issues that are risky to deal with in general are handled well throughout. Even though there were uncomfortable situations, the audience's laughter during my screening was definitely not uncomfortable. Director Micheal McCullers does a good job of making us feel at ease with these topics.
The fact that everything is tied up with a nice big bow at the end doesn't take away from the hilarity of the film. "Baby Mama" is definitely a chick flick you won't feel bad about being dragged to.
Baby Mama opens in theaters today.
For more info, check out www.babymamamovie.net.