"Baby Mama" Review - Written by Spaldy

It is important to remember that this movie was not written by Tina Fey. Although I have always seen Tina Fey as infallible, after viewing this movie, I definitely need to amend it to say Tina Fey’s writing is infallible. As a lapsed Catholic I actually don’t feel my soul slipping away by equating her to the Pope, but I like to think if God ever saw “30 Rock,” he would more than agree with my theory.

I’ve been saying for a number of years that I want to be Tina Fey when I grow up. Please pay no mind to our limited difference in age. To be sure, a lot of what makes Tina Fey phenomenal is in this movie. She has great timing, brilliant facial expressions, and she is absolutely beautiful. However, what I most love about her is her love of and talent for comedic writing. This made the movie an interesting exercise for me. Most of the movie I felt disappointed and sad, worried that she had written such a bland comedy. Then the credits rolled and the real writer was exposed. Phew! From that moment on, I actually seemed to like the movie a little better. It is interesting how your assessment of a film can slide on a scale depending on who is to blame. It is because she didn’t write it that I am cutting it some slack, but make no mistake about it, this isn’t a very good movie. Even when I thought Tina had written it, I was wondering why it felt like a man had written it. In my head I pictured Tina Fey going to the movie on Friday night, walking right past the poster for her movie and buying a ticket to “Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.”

Though the script contains few laugh or clever quips, the cast makes up a lot of lost ground. The chemistry between Poehler and Fey is as perfect as ever, even if it feels like they are waiting for more to do. I got the distinct impression from the Karaoke scene that the joke may have been ripped from their actual lives, but I guess that isn’t strange when you get to act silly with a good friend. Although this movie might have been a poor choice on the part of Poehler and Fey, the director sure knew what they were doing when they cast the film. Aside from the lovely lady leads, the movie also has some surprisingly funny performances from Steve Martin, Greg Kinnear, Will Forte, Sigourney Weaver, and John Hodgeman.

Fey plays a wonderful straight man with an endearing awkwardness. Poehler tends to overact since her strengths lie more with sketch comedy and broad characters, so her role as a brash and kind of white trash surrogate works. In fact, some of the funniest moments in the movie come courtesy of Poehler’s delivery. As for Steve Martin, his scant few moments on screen are the most memorable of the movie, but the cameos from other favorites certainly liven up the story a bit. The plot is a bit predictable, but the characters make the journey a little more palatable. The most consistent factor of this movie is that everyone seemed to be having a good time. Perhaps that is why I did enjoy my evening at the movies a bit more than I expected, but I would be lying if I said it was a fun evening.

The fact is that this movie is every bit as dull as the trailer makes it seem. Even before the movie started I was resistant based on the trailer. Sitting there in my seat before the start of the show I pictured Tina Fey going to the theatre on Friday night, walking right past the poster for her movie and buying a ticket to “Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.” If I had done what imaginary Tina Fey did, perhaps I would have had a better night out. Alas, I did not. There are some moments that made the price of admission for “Baby Mama” acceptable, but as a whole, it seems like a bit of a wasted effort. I would like to see better for this cast and for Tina Fey in particular. Here is hoping that the next time these two talented ladies put their comedic chemistry together again that they have a script that is as good as they are.