2008 Woodie Awards
Home > Pulse
'Baby Mama' warms the heart but not the funny bone
by Kevin Glenn | Pulse Reporter
"Baby Mama," starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, isn't as bad as it could've been. It stars a bunch of "Saturday Night Live" cast members who overact as usual. It easily could've become "Hot Rod." But, sadly, it also wasn't so bad it was good, like "Hot Rod," and instead ended up being perhaps the most forgettable movie of the year so far.
It's important to remember that forgettable doesn't mean boring. Just like a dinner at Red Robin can be fun but unremarkable, so too is "Baby Mama." After an enormously awkward and unfunny start in which Tina Fey's dry humor reached new and barren lows, the movie picks up a bit and eventually you find yourself enjoying the ridiculous characters, maybe even occasionally feeling a bit emotional. But it is also this emotion that keeps the movie too grounded to really become funny.
This occasional and usually sappy sentimentality, which also hurt Tina Fey's other major movie, "Mean Girls," pops up every 20 minutes or so to make the characters seem like real people. But since the rest of the movie is spent doing ridiculous "SNL"-level impersonations of freakish stereotypes, these moments seem forced and make the humorous moments seem especially unrealistic.
Amy Poehler was the biggest victim of this, as she was by far the most over-the-top of any of the characters. Her white-trash high school dropout character is hilarious and has almost all of the truly funny lines, but when she is made to have an emotional breakthrough, it just seems ridiculous. She would do better to stay with purely farcical roles, like the one she played in last year's unfairly ignored "Blades of Glory."
Tina Fey suffers less from her sentimental moments, but only because her funny moments are usually so painful that you're ready to see her try a different emotion besides vaguely annoyed, which apparently she thinks is the key to comedic scenes. She may be hilarious on "30 Rock," and a great writer, but this annoyed and snobby character that she likes to play is getting tired.
The supporting cast does a great job of making up the deficit, though. Sigourney Weaver scores the first real laughs of the movie 10 minutes in, and keeps delivering through her rare scenes. And the rest of the bit parts perform their roles well, including a remarkably odd performance by Steve Martin.
The movie is certainly heartwarming and will probably surprise you at least once, but after seeing it there is little left to laugh about.
kglenn@dailyemerald.com
It's important to remember that forgettable doesn't mean boring. Just like a dinner at Red Robin can be fun but unremarkable, so too is "Baby Mama." After an enormously awkward and unfunny start in which Tina Fey's dry humor reached new and barren lows, the movie picks up a bit and eventually you find yourself enjoying the ridiculous characters, maybe even occasionally feeling a bit emotional. But it is also this emotion that keeps the movie too grounded to really become funny.
Baby Mama
| WHAT: | A funny but ultimately forgettable comedy |
| WHO: | Tina Fey, Amy Poehler |
| WHERE: | Regal Valley River Center Stadium 15 and Gateway Cinemark 17 |
| RATING: | 2.5 out of 5 stars |
This occasional and usually sappy sentimentality, which also hurt Tina Fey's other major movie, "Mean Girls," pops up every 20 minutes or so to make the characters seem like real people. But since the rest of the movie is spent doing ridiculous "SNL"-level impersonations of freakish stereotypes, these moments seem forced and make the humorous moments seem especially unrealistic.
Amy Poehler was the biggest victim of this, as she was by far the most over-the-top of any of the characters. Her white-trash high school dropout character is hilarious and has almost all of the truly funny lines, but when she is made to have an emotional breakthrough, it just seems ridiculous. She would do better to stay with purely farcical roles, like the one she played in last year's unfairly ignored "Blades of Glory."
Tina Fey suffers less from her sentimental moments, but only because her funny moments are usually so painful that you're ready to see her try a different emotion besides vaguely annoyed, which apparently she thinks is the key to comedic scenes. She may be hilarious on "30 Rock," and a great writer, but this annoyed and snobby character that she likes to play is getting tired.
The supporting cast does a great job of making up the deficit, though. Sigourney Weaver scores the first real laughs of the movie 10 minutes in, and keeps delivering through her rare scenes. And the rest of the bit parts perform their roles well, including a remarkably odd performance by Steve Martin.
The movie is certainly heartwarming and will probably surprise you at least once, but after seeing it there is little left to laugh about.
kglenn@dailyemerald.com
Be the first to comment on this story