Reader's Review: Baby Mama

By Kellvin Chavez on February 15, 2008

Trustworthy reader Naughty Nancy got a chance to check the new Tina Fey flick "Baby Mama".  The film follows a single professional woman (Fey) who opts to hire a surrogate mother (Poehler) so she can have a baby and keep her career on track.

Here is what Naughty Nancy tells us.

As a woman, I don’t really care for a lot of these comedies that are geared towards men.  I don’t want to see a male version of 27 Dresses (which I loved), but why do we always get stuff like Knocked Up or The Hottie and The Nottie?  What’s that all about?  I almost said no, when I was given a ticket for this new comedy called “Baby Mama”.  I mean, what does that sound like to you, another bathroom humor sex-fest made at the expense of women?  I was told the star was Steve Martin, but was happy to see it was really Tina Fey, the girl from 30 Rock.  I really like her honest attitude, even in those American Express commercials. Plus she’s pretty bold to step in front of the camera with such a large facial scar, so she has my respect. Anyway after waiting a bit in the cold, we had the chance to see this movie at a nice multiplex in the Lincoln Center area of Manhattan.

In the movie, Tina is a Philly corporate exec at a Health Food franchise.  Her boss just happens to be, you guessed it, Steve Martin, The Jerk himself.  He’s not a jerk in this movie, but he is a little weird and always full of wacky theories.  Whenever employees like Fey come up with bright ideas, he’ll say something like, “I like your idea, I’m going to grant you five minutes of eye to eye contact,” and then he’ll literally try to stare them in the eyes for five minutes.

Fey’s biological clock is ticking and at 37 she’s got baby fever and boy does she have it bad. Everywhere she looks (fliers, TV, billboards) she thinks she sees babies.  Even babies passing by in public appear to look right at her and know what she’s thinking.  But her every attempt to get pregnant has failed and her doctor frankly tells her “I just don’t like your uterus.”

Her sister, Maura Tierney from E.R., is happy with children of her own and suggests she try a surrogate.  The agency she chooses is run by Sigourney Weaver and in one funny scene she reveals to Fey that one little baby wasn’t from a surrogate, but that (at nearly 60) SHE actually gave birth to it recently.  Weaver gives Fey information on a potential candidate and that’s when her former Weekend Update Co-Anchor Amy Poehler comes into the picture.  Not only does she have no class, but she’s married to Dax Sheppard of all people.  Fey is desperate though and so they agree to go forth with the procedure.  When she shares her plans with her building’s doorman Romany Malco he tells “You gonna have baby mama drama, I should know, I have two of them!”

At a groundbreaking ceremony for the opening of her company’s new store, Fey meets Greg Kinnear as they’re answering questions from the public.  He remembers her because she came in the local smoothie shop he manages several weeks earlier and pretty soon the two begin dating.  After a while it looks like things may get serious between them, with Kinnear even wanting her to meet his twelve year old daughter.  The thing is, Fey don’t know she’s got bigger problems.

After a few weeks, unbeknownst to Fey, it looks as if her egg didn’t take and Poehler failed to get pregnant.  Sheppard, the slimy dog he is, still wants to act as if everything is fine and basically rip Fey off for the money she paid them.  Poehler isn’t sure she wants to go through with it and when the two have a fight she ends up on Fey’s doorstep.  Fey has no problem with the bearer of her child living with her, except that Poehler is not only her opposite, but a complete slob, who leaves clothes around, hogs the TV and even sticks gum under her furniture.  On top of that, the woman isn’t even pregnant and Poehler carries around an inflatable belly and air pump when she reaches the stage where she should be showing. She even goes as far as eating tons of food to fake the munchies that comes with pregnancy.

Over time, the two girlfriends get a little chummy and even go out for a night on the town together; where Fey sports a style my hairdresser would crucify her for wearing.  When Poehler finally goes to the doctor for her sonogram, she’s surprised to find out she really is pregnant.  As she gets bigger and bigger and the pregnancy progresses, Fey decides to throw a baby shower.  Just when things look like they couldn’t be any happier, Dax Sheppard, afraid he’s going to be cut out of the money, crashes the party to tell Fey that Poehler isn’t pregnant and the baby isn’t hers.  “No, she tells him, “It’s yours.”  It looks like the hormones that Poehler were given made her horny a few months back and her loser husband left her with a bun in the oven.

I can’t begin to express just how much I liked this movie and the women that starred in it.  As I said before, I like how honest Fey is in her acting and the way she reacts like a real person; like when her sister licks some chocolate off her son’s hand not even bothering to figure out if its poop first.  I used to watch Amy Poehler on Upright Citizens Brigade, but I’ve found her movie work to be okay.  She either plays the ditzy type like in Mean Girls or the bitchy over-sexed type like in Blades of Glory.  I didn’t think I’d like her this time, but just as Fey is honest in her behavior, there’s some form of honesty in Poehler’s goofiness.  There’s nothing mean behind the stupid things she does, like when she’s forced to squat and pee in Fey’s sink.

Dax Sheppard didn’t do anything for me, but I’ve always liked Greg Kinnear and his All-American qualities.  Romany Malco can be over-the-top, but I almost busted a gut a few times from his facial expressions, especially the way he reacts when Fey shows him a graphic birthing video. Yeah, now men know what childbirth is really like for us.

The story gets a little predictable with the usual court room stuff and DNA test, but I liked the two girls and the rapport they had.  I would even like to see the two of them team up for a different film that is just as funny.  They could be the female Odd Couple.  This is Naughty Nancy signing off and I give this film a 7 out of 10.

Source:Naughty Nancy

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