Baby Mama

All right, here it is: BABY MAMA is laugh-out-loud funny.

Here's the setup: ridiculously hot Tina Fey is a career woman whose biological clock is ticking ... like ... this. Problem is, her doctor "doesn't like her uterus," and it looks like she'll never be able to carry a baby. Enter ridiculously hot (and surprisingly funny) Sigourney Weaver as Chafee Bicknell, proprietress of a first class surrogacy service. She matches rhTF with consistently funny Amy Poehler, whose white trash bonafides are cemented by her common-law marriage to ever entertaining Dax Shepard.

And away we go, in a class and culture and gender comedy that's consistently funny and perceptive. rhTF proves that not only can she sway an election, she can carry a movie. How much so? BABY MAMA features Steve Martin's best comedy work in years, and rhTF measures up to him in every frame. cfAP does great work with what could have been an elementary role, and eeDS and the rest of the supporting cast (including Maura Tierney, Romany Malco, Will Forte, Fred Armison, John Hodgeman, and the always likable Greg Kinnear as the love interest) are just plain first rate. The script casts a knowing comedic eye on pregnancy and love, and it manages to be simultaneously sharp, biting, and hilarious.

BABY MAMA is way funnier than I'd expected. It made me lose track of time and kept me chuckling right through the end credits. To those who were put off by the crass and dull trailer, be not deceived by the poor decisions of the marketing department. This picture is a winner.

Invincible

I challenge you to watch INVINCIBLE and not lace on your shoes to bag a few quick miles afterward.

OK, so I'm a sucker for inspirational sports films. I also happen to be a sucker for the Philadelphia Eagles, having made more on them than on Halliburton this year. INVINCIBLE hits all the marks of a good sports film and, with a helping of charisma from Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnnear, and the wonderful Elizabeth Banks.

Here's the story: it's Philadelphia, it's the mid-'70s, and times are hard. We know this because the part of the film that sets up the milieu is color-corrected with what looks like an annoying yellow gel. The Eagles, Philly's hometown NFL team, stinks, and new coach Kinnear hits on the idea of holding open tryouts, a first for an NFL team. Wahlberg, a down-on-his-luck bartender / substitute teacher tries out for the team, overcomes hardship, and inspires the city. It sounds cheesy, but it works and clips right along to a satisfying ending that feels like it comes far too soon. I'd grown to like Wahlberg's character, real-life player Vince Papale, and I wanted to see what happened next in his life.

I have some problems with the picture, mostly with choices that I think were made in post, but that's ok. If you like sports films, you can't go wrong with INVINCIBLE.

Little Miss Sunshine

We meat Greg Kinnear's character early in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. He's
giving a motivational speech to an offscreen group and, while the
subject matter is a bit thin, he's swinging away. Since I do a fair
bit of public speaking, I immediately identified with him.

Maybe that's why I found LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE to be so hard to watch.
The movie spends its running time punching Kinnnear's character, a
father trying to put a hopeful face on hard times, directly in the
nose so many times that he eventually gives up and gives in. Movie
people call that kind of behavior "letting go" and seem to think it a
good idea. I just found it sad.

I found nearly the entire movie sad, so much so that I don't know why
people think of LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE as a comedy. It's a movie about
flawed people enduring trying situations and relationships, and it
makes us feel more sad than entertained.