I've sat through enough laugh-less comedies to be grateful when a movie entertains me, even temporarily%u2014but no one's going to call this film a classic.
Baby Mama (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:153
Fresh:96
Rotten:57
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: Baby Mama is a lightweight, predictable comedy that ekes by on the strength of its performers.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for crude and sexual humor, language and a drug reference.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Apr 25, 2008 Wide
Box Office: $60,269,340
Synopsis: Most romantic couples--onscreen or otherwise--would kill for the type of chemistry that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler share in the gyno-centric comedy BABY MAMA, even though the women are only playing... Most romantic couples--onscreen or otherwise--would kill for the type of chemistry that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler share in the gyno-centric comedy BABY MAMA, even though the women are only playing friends. Fey stars as Kate, a 37-year-old vice president at an organic foods company whose womb starts a-kickin' every time she sees a baby. Though her career has kept her from marriage and children, she has decided that it's time for her to get pregnant. But multiple tries with in vitro fertilization leave her disappointed, and Kate turns to a surrogate mother. Enter Angie (Poehler), a high-school dropout desperate for the large check that comes with carrying someone's child. Though she agrees to be Kate's surrogate, it's clear that the women disagree on everything from music to the type of food Angie should be eating. When Angie leaves her apartment after a fight with her obnoxious common-law husband (Dax Shepard, EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH), she moves into Kate's posh Philadelphia apartment, and the women spend the rest of BABY MAMA alternately battling and bonding. Steve Martin appears in a small but enjoyable role as Kate's oily boss, and Oscar nominee Greg Kinnear gets good mileage out of playing her love interest. WEEDS star Romany Malco earns a bit more screen time--and plenty of laughs--as her over-involved doorman, but this is clearly Fey and Poehler's film. After several seasons of co-anchoring SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE's "Weekend Update" together, the pair is reunited, and it feels good--for both the talented actresses and the audience. BABY MAMA pays less attention to the serious issues of pregnancy and motherhood than its baby-driven contemporaries--JUNO, WAITRESS, and KNOCKED UP--but this is simply a comedy, and a very funny one, that succeeds on the merits of its two lead actresses and their comedic talents. [More]
Starring: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard
Starring: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Romany Malco, Maura Tierney, Holland Taylor, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Martin
Director: Michael McCullers
Director: Michael McCullers
Screenwriter: Michael McCullers
Producer: Lorne Michaels, John Goldwyn
Composer: Jeff Richmond
Studio: Universal Pictures
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Release:
Sep 9, 2008
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Snap Case
- Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
- Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French, Spanish
- Side A: BABY MAMA
- Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish - Optional
Additional Release Material:
- Alternate Ending
- Deleted Scenes
- Audio Commentary: Michael McCullers - Writer/Director; Lorne Michaels - Producer; Tina Fey - Star; Amy Poehler - Star
- Side B: Full Frame
Reviews for Baby Mama
This new comedy is what you could call a surrogate comedy with familiar Saturday Night Live jokes implanted in a generic Baby Boom script.
Writer/director Michael McCullers... pacing is poor and he doesn't know how to showcase the small-screen chemistry of Fey and Poehler on the big screen.
Every time the movie feels like it's about to cross over into the realm of the genuinely inspired, something or someone slams on the brakes.
Fey and Poehler deliver more laughs than the last two Will Ferrell movies combined
"Baby Mama" is not just smart, warm, funny, and romantic, it is an especially welcome dose of XX chromosome humor in an Apatow-flooded XY era.
It's not a perfect film by any means, but as a debutante ball for Fey and Poehler as big screen leading ladies, it's a dream.
The only reason it works as well as it does -- or that it even works at all -- is because of its star, former SNL head writer Tina Fey, who's really turning into an endearing comic performer.
Baby Mama doesn't have a plot so much as a series of contrivances that play out completely as expected.
The script favors routine Odd Couple gags over the sort of comic contemplation of motherhood a writer like Fey might have brought to the subject.
Baby Mama does not represent the best of either woman's talent, but it'll do for now.
Every moment of this project feels beat-driven, focus-grouped and designed to package Fey as a viable movie star with great pins (as one character takes pains to note) to go with the breasts (ditto). This isn't writing, it's advertising.
[Writer/director] McCullers came up with a perfect scenario for Fey and Poehler, a true comedy team who honed their chemistry over multiple seasons worth of Weekend Updates.
Most of the time Baby Mama relies on the string-pulling of sitcom television.
[Fey and Poehler's] appealing rapport bumps the movie up from 'just fine' to 'good enough,' even if both are good enough to do something that's more than fine.
[Writer/director] McCullers takes all the loose plot strands and ties them in a neat knot and cuts it, as an obstetrician might a newborn's umbilicus. Still, I left with a smile.
Latest News for Baby Mama
January 07, 2009:
People's Choice Awards Winners Announced
The 35th annual People's Choice Awards were handed out on January 7, 2009. A complete list of film nominees, with winners in bold, follows below. More...
September 03, 2008:
Austin Powers screen mastermind Michael McCullers is the guy behind this sorta same-sex parenting satire, as SNL's Tina Fey and Amy Poehler do an extreme odd couple for laughs duet, ripping into the burgeoning baby consumer industry. ![]()
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May 08, 2008:
Box Office Guru Preview: Can Speed Racer Defeat Iron Man?
Fast cars and comedy stars make their way into North American multiplexes on Friday hoping to shake things up after Iron Man's sheer dominance of the box office over the past week. More...
May 01, 2008:
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A hero flies into North American multiplexes aiming to kickstart what should be an explosive summer movie season. Paramount's Iron Man is first up to bat this year and is ready... More...
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