Baby Mama (Blu-ray)

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Note: The following review contains portions of text that were previously used for the DVD review of the title. Format specific sections for Video, Audio and Extras and the Closing section are specific to the review of this Blu-ray title.

It can´t be said that I hold much interest in films from recent "Saturday Night Live" alumnus. That show hasn´t been funny in over a decade and the talent just doesn´t appeal to me. The truth of the matter is that I love episodes from the long-running television show that were produced when my age was in single digits. In recent years, it seems like Lorne Michaels´ creation demands an IQ in single digits. With Tina Fey and Amy Poehler joining forces in one film, I am hardly excited. Title the film "Baby Mama" and have the film in question be a comedy about surrogate motherhood, pregnancy and health food and I am running for the hills. Seriously, there is absolutely nothing about "Baby Mama" that appealed to me in the least.

However, as a film reviewer, there come times when I must review something that doesn´t particularly interest me. There are times when I must sit through the dredge of cinema and try to keep an open mind about what I am about to see. There are just times when I must realize that every film cannot be "Tim Burton´s The Nightmare Before Christmas" and I must just grin and bear it. "Baby Mama" was expected to be one of these times and for roughly a week I looked in disdain at the DVD and Blu-ray boxes of the film. "Baby Mama" just looked like an exercise in pain and I didn´t want to subject my eyes or my brain to the picture before I could build up enough nerve to sit back and watch it. Then today, after spending most of my entire day with a lovely and amazing girl, my sensibilities were weakened and I finally decided to sit back and watch the film.

So now that I have you, my faithful readers, in the same mindset that "Baby Mama" is probably not something you would want to watch, let me tell you that the film is actually an entertaining and enjoyable little comedy. There were a lot of quite humorous moments contained in the picture´s slim 99 minutes. Additionally, both Fey and Poehler put forth very nice performances and left behind the silliness that seems tied to nearly every "Saturday Night Live" alumnus film since "Ghostbusters." The two actresses gave comedic performances, but they were more grounded in humanity than moronic sentiments. In effect, they seemed like real, but flawed people. Small supporting roles by Sigourney Weaver and the best "Saturday Night Live" guest host ever, Steve Martin, provided respectability to the film.

In "Baby Mama," Tina Fey stars as Kate Holbrook. Kate is a professional woman that has always put her career in front of her own life and she does what she can to climb the corporate ladder and impress her hippy boss Barry (Steve Martin). At the age of 37, Kate decides that it is time to have a child, but medical problems do not provide her the means of bearing her own. A surrogate maternity guru, Chaffee Bicknell (Sigourney Weaver) talks Kate into using her own egg cells and impregnating another woman to have her child. Kate hires Angie Ostrowski, whom is portrayed by Amy Poehler, to be the mother of her child. Angie is the definition of white trash and she and her common law husband Carl Loomis (Dax Shepard) seem affable to the task, but they have plans of their own and Kate must also confront feelings she has for a local health food owner, Rob Ackerman (Greg Kinnear).

The dynamics between Fey and Poehler work well in "Baby Mama" and the two comedians´ chemistry make up for any shortcomings in the film. While the film is funny and entertaining, "Baby Mama" is predictable. You can map out the endings for each character roughly halfway into the picture. It doesn´t take long to figure out who Kate and Angie will end up with and you can rest assure that babies are involved and Greg Kinnear´s character will not be left out in the cold. This is one of those comedies where everything is overly obvious. However, getting to the end is a lot of fun and in addition to Kinnear, Martin and Weaver´s supporting roles, Dax Shepard is far better in this film than he was in "Employee of the Month" and relative unknown Romany Malco moves behind "The MC Hammer Story" and "Weeds" to provide plenty of comic relief. Mr. PC himself, John Hodgman makes an appearance as well.

Yes, I was reluctant to watch "Baby Mama" and the stars and synopsis of the film did very little to sway me otherwise. However, after having a wonderful day I was prepared to stomach anything thrown my way and "Baby Mama" found the play button pushed. Unexpectedly, I found myself enjoying the film and while I can´t say it is better than "Knocked Up," it has more than its share of redeeming moments and I wasn´t too shocked to see the film had a ´Fresh´ rating of 62% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is funny and both Fey and Poehler are convincing and funny in their roles. It was worth the hour and a half running time and far better than a few other comedies I´ve seen in recent times. While the film won´t change my overall view on "Saturday Night Live" based projects, it will make me a little less reluctant when the next title arrives to review.