Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Baby Mama

I was fortunate enough to get invited to an early screening of the film Baby Mama (thanks Kim). Yes, I saw it the day before it had it's world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival! For some reason that gives me a thrill. This comedy, written by SNL alum Mike McCullers, and staring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler is light, funny and well done.

I met Tina Fey twice, at the Newport Film Festival here in Newport, RI. Once was a casual hello my first year as a volunteer in 2002. She was in town for an improv comedy show with the the Upright Citizen's Brigade, and was on a panel about comedy. She returned to perform again, in 2004. In a comic moment of panic, I ended up driving she, her husband and Rachel Dratch to diner from the show. She is funny, friendly and smart.

Baby Mama is about a woman who can't get pregnant or adopt, so she hires a surrogate agency. I was really taken by the dialogue and the characters. The story had an unexpected (by me) twist in the middle. It has been criticized for being predictable, the performances more than made up for that, for me. The audience cheered at the end of the film (love when that happens at a movie). The most common comment I heard, walking out of the theater, was, "that was a lot better than I expected." I liked this cool spring comedy. And, oh yeah, let Tribeca Film Festival begin ... I'll be there next week, woo hoo!!!


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I of course am no internationally known movie maven but I wrote my review as well.Seems like we saw the same film (:

Linda said...

Dianna~You should send me that review...... I always like your take on movies. Sounds like it's almost like we were sitting next to each other!

Toto said...

I dug this one, too, although I'm a sucker for all things Tina Fey. Her "30 Rock" is brilliant.

That said, I'm surprised Amy Poehler hasn't had more movie work -- this is her first starring role. People on my blog suggested her looks were holding her back. She's no Cindy Crawford, but she's attractive by most standards and a brilliant comic. Could that be the reason Hollywood hasn't made her a breakout star yet? That's a shame if it's true ...

Linda said...

Toto~Interesting observation about Poehler, I think she's done pretty well. I think her acting skills are getting better all the time. I don't agree with the comments on her looks, the woman is gorgeous. From interviews I've seen and read about her, I get the impression that she really doesn't care what Hollywood thinks, and just wants to do good work. I think she'll be fine.

2 Dollar Productions said...

I like Fey from 'SNL' and especially '30 Rock' and I imagined this is just a solid comedy, which is fine by me this time of year.

As for the previous entry, what a year for Philip Seymour Hoffman, eh? He was especially great in 'Charlie Wilson' as I thought he stole that film from Hanks and Roberts in every single scene.

Linda said...

2D~ This one is a pleaser for any Fey fan. You're right, Hoffman had a hell of a year last year. Can't wait to see what's next for him.