Some things I liked some I did not.

Don't Believe the Hype

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

A successful, single businesswoman dreams of having a baby but discovers she is infertile and the adoption option is closed to her. So she hires a working class woman to be her unlikely surrogate...So I was laid up ill at home and not feeling up to watching anything heavy, a scan through my recordings had Baby Mama listed as a witty comedy. Perfect for what I needed I thought, and so it proved.He looks like a laundry bag full of meat!Comedy films are always going to be divisive, and with many proclaiming this as being "for girls" only, it was always going to struggle to garner a massive fan base. Yet as a middle aged man I found this to be very funny indeed, I have always enjoyed Tina Fey anyway, but she's surrounded by a funny and reliable cast (chemistry with Amy Poehler set in stone) and the screenplay throws up some great scenes and characters.The expected japes involving pregnancy are here of course, as is the requisite romantic strand as singleton work horse Fey falls for the charms of Greg Kinnear, but what works most is the "odd couple" vibe between Fey and Poehler. And with running "fun" stories involving old pros Sigourney Weaver and Steve Martin (a pony-tailed riot) neatly cloaked around the central premise, there's enjoyment coming from different angles. Must mention Romany Malco as Concierge Oscar, a fun array of comedy visual ticks and witty vocal delivery style.From Lamars class to a nightclub, to medication ingestion and farting in a purse! Baby Mama is a funny movie. One that also, thankfully, doesn't rest on its laurels, it does, believe me, take the simple premise into many other directions and proved to be far better than expected. 7/10

"Baby Mama" is certainly an enjoyable enough movie. It's not at all deep or thought provoking (which is kind of nice, because comedies that try to be deep and thought provoking usually fail dismally as both comedies and deep and thought provoking stories.) There's a definite "Saturday Night Live" feel to this - with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Steve Martin all playing significant roles - but it comes across as far more "serious" than you might expect for a movie with that background. It's not an SNL skit (not even an extended one.) There's even an underlying current of mean-spiritedness to this, which doesn't take away from the fun of the movie, but which does certainly sober it.Fey's character of Kate is a 37 year old corporate executive who decides that the time has come to have a baby. The problem is that she has no man in her life. So she hires an agency to find her a surrogate, who turns out to be Angie (Poehler.) Kate and Angie are opposites in every way - Kate the successful businesswoman, Angie the uneducated and uncultured wife (a "white trash housewife" as Kate finally calls her in a flash of anger) of, frankly, a loser (played by a guy named Dax Shepard.) But in spite of that Kate and Angie develop a bond; even a friendship as the baby grows inside Angie, who eventually breaks up with her loser hubby and moves in with Kate, who also manages to start a romance with Rob (Greg Kinnear.)So there's a kind of revolving door of relationships, with lots of ups and downs. (Martin's role, by the way, is as Kate's boss - a new age, hippie sort of type, and, while he's not central to the story, he's actually quite funny when he's in it.) This was certainly easy enough to watch. Funny at times - even surprisingly emotional every now and then. I have to say that I think my favourite character was the birthing teacher, played by Siobhan Fallon. She was "weawwy weawwy good." It was a silly role, replete with her speaking in a silly voice, but worth a laugh whenever she appeared. (6/10)

This was a surprisingly funny comedy given the premise. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler worked well together in the leads, as Fey is a career-driven woman who finally decides she wants a baby;unfortunately, her doctor informs her that her uterus isn't the right shape for it. After exploring other options (including adoption), she decides to go with the surrogate route, and Amy Poehler agrees. Unfortunately, she is a white-trash loser (with equally bad common law husband Dax Sheppard aboard), and they are more interested in scamming her. Surprises abound. Greg Kinnear and Steve Martin offer surprisingly good supporting roles in this good comedy that I recommend. Even the cover box is funny! Stay with it to the ending credits. I think Amy Poehler's performance is the main highlight.** 1/2 out of ****

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have both had great success on Saturday Night Live, and with their own shows, Fey on 30 Rock and Poehler on Parks and Recreation. They can also say they made a buddy movie together with Baby Mama. Baby Mama stars Fey as Kate, a 37-year-old businesswoman who has climbed up the ladders of business success rather than be like most traditional women in the sense of getting married, having an ordinary job, and having children. That is where the film begins. We start by showing her having a date where she gives way too much information to a guy, which causes him to leave.We then transition to where Kate wants a baby. She looks at some sperm donors and finds no interest. So she invests a lot of money into a program where there are women who will volunteer to be surrogate mothers. That is where she meets Angie (Poehler). Angie is an ordinary working class woman with a dumb boyfriend, played by Dax Shepard.The film focuses on Kate and Angie during Angie's pregnancy. Director Michael McCullers focuses on having the story built around Kate and Angie and how they build their friendship. Through taking care of Angie, Kate gets some experience at what being a mother is like. Fey and Poehler have great chemistry that translated just as well on the big screen compared to TV, if not, better. Both Fey and Poehler turn in excellent performances that make their imperfect characters likable and fun to watch. Stealing the show in a great supporting role is Steve Martin, who plays Kate's boss Barry. Martin is a riot as the energy-reading Barry. Where Martin excels with his character is making him a one-of-a-kind character that no other actor could play. The film is fun to watch, and guys will enjoy watching Tina Fey and Amy Poehler play off each other just as much as the ladies do.