Release Date: April 25, 2008
Rating: PG-13 (for crude and sexual humor, language and a drug reference)
Genre: Comedy
Run Time: 96 min.
Director: Michel McCullers
Actors: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Romany Malco, Steve Martin, Sigourney Weaver
Motherhood is a trend and Hollywood knows it. But while maternal instincts have made a comeback, traditional views of child-rearing have not. Last year’s high-profile films in which characters decided to have their babies rather than abort them—think
Knocked Up,
Juno and
Waitress—featured female characters who found support outside of the bonds of marriage in raising their children.
Former Saturday Night Live star and screenwriter (of Mean Girls) Tina Fey has perfected the role of a successful working woman who longs for a baby in her role as Liz Lemon on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. Now Fey finds similar success with Baby Mama, a comedy about a company vice president who finds a way to have a child—but not the old-fashioned way. Although the means and morality aren’t traditional, the laughs are genuine and the film is hard to resist.
Fey stars as Kate Holbrook, vice president for an environmentally friendly food company looking to open a new store. Scouting an urban area on the cusp of renewal, she meets single dad Rob (Greg Kinnear), owner of a struggling smoothie store. Their budding relationship takes a back seat to Kate’s professional life and major life decision to have a baby. “I’m 37,” she frets, and so she explores her options.
The plan is put into motion in the film’s opening minutes, as we watch Kate choose a sperm donor. Photos of the donor appear on a computer monitor and are matched with Kate’s photo, producing a merged composite representing what a potential child might look like. After Kate’s pursuit fails to result in a pregnancy (“I don’t like your uterus,” a doctor informs her), she explores the option of a surrogate—someone who, for a hefty fee, will carry her fertilized egg and deliver Kate’s baby.
Angie (Amy Poehler) agrees to be Kate’s surrogate, but Carl (Dax Shepard)—her husband by common-law marriage—is more interested in trying to win radio call-in contests than he is in his wife’s well-being. The promise of a paycheck holds them together, as does a shared secret, and they go to great lengths to worm their way into Kate’s world.