So far I’ve stayed on track for watching every movie on my 2008 Summer Movie List. All one of them.
This weekend we watched Baby Mama starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and a woefully under-credited Greg Kinnear.
Our theater was having technical difficulties and projected the movie off-center. This resulted in being able to see boom mics constantly, as well as the little shades they put over the camera lens.
I feel pretty certain this was a technical glitch of our theater, so I’m not going to ding the movie for shoddy production. Seeing boom mics practically bop Tina Fey in the head does take away from the immersion, though.
Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised.
Going into the film, the reviews were extremely mixed. Some people seemed to love it and others seemed to loathe it. I didn’t really know what to expect.
I was concerned that the ‘chocolate or poop’ scene would be the apex of the film, but there’s actually a lot of plot elements completely unhinted at in the trailers.
I haven’t been a long time fan of Tina Fey, but she’s really been growing on me and she’s pretty funny in this movie. More than that, I was impressed with the depth of her acting ability.
Greg Kinnear makes an appearance as Fey’s love interest, and he’s charming as always. He added a lot of weight and credence to the film, keeping it from floating away into slapstick antics.
The biggest disappointment for me was Amy Poehler. Most of her lines weren’t that funny, and it just always felt like she was screeching at the camera. Her range of emotion was noticeably impotent compared to Fey and Kinnear.
The romantic comedy vibe from the Kinnear/Fey plotline was surprisingly touching and fun to watch. I’d almost prefer the movie been solely about that instead of being brought down by Poehler’s brand of humor.
The script could have been a little better, but Fey, Kinnear and random appearances by SNL alum make the movie worth watching.
If you want a light-hearted comedy, this one’s pretty good. If nothing else, it marks the arrival of Tina Fey as a comedic movie star. Let’s hope we see her in better things to come.
Verdict: B- Tilt: A-