In the end, despite some complications, it successfully gives birth to a very happy event: The arrival of Tina Fey, movie star.
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: 12A [See Full Rating] for crude and sexual humor, language and a drug reference.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:25-07-2008
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
Reviews for Baby Mama
In a pleasing contrast to Fey's sharpness, Poehler keeps her performance unpredictable and fuzzy. In this just-add-water comedy, a very funny movie star is born.
Neither Tina Fey nor Amy Poehler, former Saturday Night Live colleagues, has a compelling big-screen presence. And as a team they're no Martin and Lewis. Still, their lightweight double act passes the time agreeably.
Baby Mama is an endearing but exasperating exercise in fertility, a sort of Sisterhood of the Traveling Uterus, that strikes too many false notes to seem anything but too familiar.
Baby Mama is just amusing enough to provoke a few chuckles and just short enough to keep you from glancing at your watch.
The enjoyable-enough comedy Baby Mama may appear to have a few women's issues on its mind, but it's really a female Odd Couple that gets by on the considerable comic talents of its stars.
What's the difference between a vasectomy and Baby Mama? Baby Mama only lasts 93 minutes.
The funny, felicitous Baby Mama exploits every stage of pregnancy except the first. No hanky-panky to bump this plot in motion.
Baby Mama offers ample evidence that Fey and Poehler are more than ready for prime-time screen gigs. Let's hope they team again for a comedy that delivers all that it promises.
It's not that Baby Mama is an outright bad movie. It's just so thoroughly typical, a one-note, odd-couple, laff-lite film featuring two Saturday Night Live veterans that reminds you of so many other dashed-together SNL vet films.
The appealing Fey and nutty Poehler make sure Baby Mama dramas comes leavened with laughs.
The picture is about a surrogate mother, and in a sense Fey is asked to be the movie's surrogate.
The pregnancy-movie craze shows no signs of abating, but not all bellies are created equal. Baby Mama is a disservice to Tina Fey, who is at her best playing characters who are whip-smart.
The movie was written and directed by a man, Michael McCullers. But it cuts out the obligatory middleman and lets two women make us laugh, often very hard.
By the time it reaches its supposedly crowd-pleasing finale, Baby Mama may have self-respecting comedy fans (and even Tina Fey fans) crying uncle.
Baby Mama lets Amy Poehler shine on the big screen. The only question is, why did Hollywood wait so long to give her a starring role?
When was the last time you were presented with a film featuring "Saturday Night Live" actors that didn't send you running for the hills?
Likeable enough if you're in an undemanding mood. But its toothless underachievement leaves one thinking this bun should've spent longer in the oven.
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. ![]()
More...
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:
Box Office Preview: Iron Man Launches Summer Movie Season
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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