Looking Ahead: Baby Mama Preview

Tina Fey is no doubt one of the rising stars in comedy, not unlike a female Judd Apatow. Every one of Ms. Fey's projects, from Weekend Update at SNL, to Mean Girls, to 30 Rock, has sparkled with her whip-smart take on the absurdities of every day life. Her latest project, Baby Mama, is due out April 25th and I have no problem admitting that I'm interested in the flick despite its estrogen-heavy premise. Fey, a single woman desperate for motherhood, recruits a childish, none-too-bright girl (Amy Poehler) to be her surrogate.

I couldn't find a movie poster so this'll have to do. Oh well.

Reuniting Tina Fey and Amy Poehler is a no-brainer recipe for a sharp, snarky film but I'm not sure if the premise will prove adequately substantive for this talented cast (which also features Greg Kinnear, Sigourney Weaver, Romany Malco, and Dax Shephard - remember him?). Writer/director Michael McCullers is an SNL veteran but that's not necessarily a good thing in a movie director as most SNL movies tend to suffer from skit-itis and feel like a five minute skit stretched out to 105.

If anyone can play a semi-retarded surrogate who can't operate a child-proofed toilet it's Amy Poeher. She's got charm for days, but very few people outside of Will Ferrell can play semi-retarded goofballs for an entire movie and not incur viewer's eternal hatred. It's going to take strong performances by both Fey, Kinnear, and others to balance out the gross-out antics of Poehler's woman-child.



Despite these questions, Baby Mama is the only way to get a Tina Fey fix outside of reruns so I predict it'll do reasonably well in the box office. Personally, I'm not sold enough on the film to risk the social stigma of actually watching Baby Mama in the theaters with a pair of fully functional testicles.

What do you guys think of Baby Mama?

For more movie goodness check out the Large Association of Movie Blogs!