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There’s a new chick-flick at the local Cineplex where the action is set in Philadelphia, as in Pennsylvania’s major city. Merely coincidental, the film arrives on the heels of that state’s big primary, but Hillary Clinton is nowhere to be found in a venue that still suggests “Rocky.” Rather, this comedic adventure is called “Baby Mama,” starring two female stars of “Saturday Night Live.”
Now, I have to admit, sheepishly, that I laughed at many of the jokes in this female-oriented comedy. As a result, I have scheduled a doctor’s appointment to have my testosterone levels checked, just in case I am precipitously on the verge on some inexplicable male menopausal meltdown. At least I am not crying during soap operas, mainly because I don’t watch any.
Perched for a long time as a cast member and co-anchor of “Weekend Update” on “Saturday Night Live,” Tina Fey has made her mark in another comedy series on NBC, while Amy Poehler continues on for a seventh season in the late night weekly comedy show. Together, Fey and Poehler have great chemistry as an odd couple as mismatched as Oscar and Felix. Fey’s Kate Holbrook is a career-driven executive at an organic market chain.
Financially secure, she lives in a swank Philadelphia apartment that reflects her fastidious nature. Having put her personal life on the back burner, the unmarried Kate suddenly realizes her biological clock is ticking. After visiting several sperm banks, Kate discovers that she is infertile, and therefore, decides to visit the surrogacy center run by Chaffee Bicknell (Sigourney Weaver).
The solution for her wish to have a child is realized by the availability of Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Poehler) to become the surrogate mom. Free-spirited Angie is the suburban Philly equivalent of trailer park trash. When interviewing for the surrogate position, Angie shows up with her equally trashy common-law husband Carl (Dax Shepard), a deadbeat who’s anxious to take advantage of Kate’s generous cash offer for services rendered.
Angie is hardly the ideal candidate for motherhood, as she indulges in activities that should be off limits, such as smoking, drinking and eating junk food while watching the worst of daytime TV. Angie is one fistfight away from being a guest on the “Jerry Springer Show.”
Entering the nesting mode, Kate buys all the appropriate child-care books and childbirth DVDs, enrolling herself and Angie in a birthing class. But Kate is consumed with her work schedule, which includes satisfying the desires of her New Age hippie boss Barry (Steve Martin, in a hilarious role) to open a flagship store in an area ripe for gentrification.
Yet, Kate’s plans for a perfect pregnancy are turned upside down when Angie leaves Carl and moves into Kate’s apartment, seeing that she has no money or place to live. Now that they have to share the tight quarters of an apartment, it is inevitable that the friction between two very dissimilar characters will erupt into pandemonium.
While wiseguy doorman Oscar (Romany Malco) watches with bemusement, the comings and goings of the anxious mother-to-be and the flighty surrogate create a real sideshow. Though Angie is given to many bottom-feeding tendencies, including the inappropriate use of a bathroom sink, Kate begins the inevitable mellowing process, which soon has her taking up a romantic interest in local smoothies bar owner Rob (Greg Kinnear), an erstwhile lawyer who is consumed with an unnatural bitterness towards big competitor Jamba Juice.
Even guys will detect the predictable plot twists of female rivalry that runs rampant through “Baby Mama,” but still there is a good deal of enjoyable humor, mainly due to the wisecracks and banter between the leading ladies. “Baby Mama” employs plenty of broad gags, delivering a tidy sense of comedic convenience that won’t leave a lasting impression. At the bottom line, it’s fun but not a must-see comedy.
DVD RELEASE UPDATE
I think there’s a whole new industry churning out horror films from the Far East, and not just Hong Kong. But if it weren’t for DVDs, we’d probably not even know about gruesome cinema from Thailand.
The latest to hit our shores is the aptly-named “Sick Nurses,” a gory, violent film set in the hallways of a run-down Bangkok hospital.
“Sick Nurses” follows a clandestine team of nurses and a chief surgeon who sell human body parts and whole bodies on the black market for a profit.
When one of the nurses threatens to expose the operation, she is instantly attacked, killed and wrapped in a body bag to be sold by her cohorts.
A bloodthirsty spirit, she emerges from the dead seeking revenge for her untimely death, attacking each victim and forcing them to perform violent acts against themselves and others.
I hope someone will release an anniversary version of “The Sound of Music,” if only to balance the equation.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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The Judd Apatow comic factory, churning out raunchy, bawdy comedies at a rapid clip, is at it again, this time with the inspired writing of a star pupil who apparently learned much from writer-director Apatow after stints in his TV series and “Knocked Up.”
Drawing on personal experience of failed romance, Jason Segel penned the script for “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and thereby became perfect for the starring role of the person victimized by the brutal heartbreak inflicted by the film’s titular character. As the film’s producer, Apatow has turned over the directing reins to Nicholas Stoller, a collaborator on many TV and movie scripts. Evidently, Apatow’s repertory company has the magic touch.
As the title implies, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” is about the painful heartache of a romantic split, in which Jason Segel’s Peter Bretter is devastated that his beautiful girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), is dumping him.
This movie achieves, perhaps, the most awkward, yet funny breakup ever seen. Peter is just getting out of the shower at his home, when Sarah shows up. Expecting a daytime tryst, Peter drops his towel, revealing the full monty for all to see. Obviously, he was clueless about the real reason for her unexpected visit. As he refuses to put on clothes, the inevitable separation talk becomes increasingly uncomfortable and clumsy, but in a completely hilarious fashion.
In many ways, Peter and Sarah are a very unlikely couple. She’s a glamorous TV star on a crime series, one that is spoofed delightfully as a “CSI” type show in which she and William Baldwin are engaged in earnest sleuthing. A musician with a slacker attitude, Peter has been scoring the music for her hit TV series, thus he’s unable to completely shake any ties to the very appealing actress. He’s reduced to sitting around his house in the same pair of sweatpants and eating cereal from gigantic bowls.
After a fruitless bout of womanizing and a meltdown on the job, Peter believes that not having Sarah in his life may well destroy it forever. At the urging of his brother Brian (Bill Hader), whose advice is not always helpful, Peter takes an impulsive trip to Hawaii to clear his head.
Unfortunately, Sarah is already staying at the same swank resort hotel with her new flame, self-absorbed hipster and British rocker Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). Peter’s extended stay at the beach resort becomes problematic and discomfiting, especially since Sarah has all too many public displays of affection with the obnoxious rock star. Wallowing in too many fruity cocktails and hysterical crying jags, Peter torments himself with the reality of Sarah’s new shallow life.
Relief from self-pity comes in the form of flirtations with very pretty hotel desk clerk Rachel (Mila Kunis), whose laid-back approach tempts Peter to rejoin the world of the living. Rachel offers emotional support, and soon gets Peter to loosen up a bit with a few lively encounters with some of the locals, which don’t always go smoothly.
Deciding to take surfing lessons from Chuck (Paul Rudd), the typical stoner whose brain has been fried beyond repair, he flails away in the waves, enduring one mishap after another. Then, there are the strange run-ins with hotel staff, mostly with the creepy waiter Matthew (Jonah Hill) who’s anxious for Aldous to listen to his musical demo CD.
“Forgetting Sarah Marshall” delivers plenty of unforgettable comedy, generating laughter not just for Peter’s sad predicament but for the sarcastic banter that sometimes elevates the dialogue beyond the merely sophomoric. However, this being an Apatow production, the humor is not on the level of high-brow Noel Coward witticisms.
Despite the raunchy comedy and the shock value of Peter’s disrobing, this movie seems a whole lot tamer than “Superbad,” dwelling as it does on the Peter’s essentially sweet vulnerability. Still, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” pushes the boundaries, earning a well-deserved R rating.
DVD RELEASE UPDATE
There’s a TV channel for practically every taste. Just in case the Sci-Fi Channel doesn’t offer enough programming choices, Fox Home Entertainment has just released “Alien Nation: Ultimate Movie Collection.”
Continuing where the original television series left off, this DVD collection includes all five suspenseful sci-fi movies for the first time. These films follow the action-packed adventures of Los Angeles police detective Matt Sikes (Gary Graham) and his partner George Francisco (Eric Pierpoint), an alien fugitive slave who must, along with his brethren, struggle to assimilate into life on his adopted planet Earth, without sacrificing his own cultural identity.
The “Ultimate Movie Collection” kicks off with “Alien Nation: Dark Horizons,” when the fate of the entire planet is on the line as a Purist group develops a virus designed to kill all Newcomers. An abundance of bonus materials include gag reels, storyboards and photo galleries.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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