Rating: 10/10

Starring: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Martin, Greg Kinnear


The Plot

Businesswoman Kate Holbrook (Fey) can’t conceive, so she hires a working-class surrogate (Poehler) to carry her child.


The Good

Fey tackles the lead role with great success, helped in no small part by Poehler’s comedic foil.

The Bad: If you’re a cynical sourpuss, you’ll find the ending contrived and too “Hollywood.” If you aren’t spiteful and cold, you’ll be fine.


The Lowdown

Did you know Steve Martin and Greg Kinnear are in this movie?

I didn’t, and I didn’t put it together until after the movie. The trailers deliberately ignore Martin and Kinnear because Fey and Poehler bring “Baby Mama” into the world without help from their male counterparts. Although Fey is the dramatic lead, she and Poehler are matched toe-to-toe, comedically.

Fey incorporates the humanized neurosis of her “30 Rock” character, Liz Lemon, into Kate, including the awkward insecurity. Struggling to be normal makes Kate an understandable and sometimes emotionally touching lead.

But against Poehler’s innocent-yet-trashy depiction of surrogate Angie, the comic pair are much more than the sum of their parts.

Fellow SNL alumnus Michael McCullers wrote the script specifically for Fey and Poehler, according to Entertainment Weekly. When the timing feels stale between Fey and some of the cast, it’s only because she and Poehler have such a well-honed repartee.

So while Martin’s portrayal of Kate’s self-assuredly hippie boss (a job well-done is rewarded with “five minutes of uninterrupted eye contact”) and Kinnear’s grounded romantic role are both nothing less than you’d expect from the actors; the trailers are right to leave them out.

“Baby Mama” is Fey and Poehler’s child, and they raise it hilariously by themselves.

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