‘Baby Mama’: How Does The Tina Fey/Amy Poehler Comedy Play In 2015?

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In April 2008, New York Times film reviewer Manohla Dargis was not very impressed with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s Baby Mama. Dargis wrote that “The film never comes fully to term, as it were: the visual style is sitcom functional, and even the zippiest jokes fall flat because of poor timing.” What followed thereafter was less of a film review and more of a rumination on whether or not Tina Fey could be a great comedy star. Dargis lamented, “And if there’s anything the movies could use it is funny women, especially those who earn laughs by keeping their clothes on and their dignity (more or less) intact…Real funny women — Mae West, Elaine May — come along every few decades, so the timing seems right. But the clock is ticking.”

Then, in the fall of 2008, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler became international comedy icons when they portrayed Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live and Hillary Clinton, respectively. And so, Baby Mama is this strange film that bridges the gap between the era when the two comics were plucky Weekend Update co-anchors and the precise moment they became comedy megastars.

So, how does Baby Mama play now? Is it funnier now in 2015? Is it less funny? Was it ever funny at all?

First of all, Baby Mama is funny, but that’s all thanks to Tina and Amy’s legendary chemistry. The writing is formulaic and uninteresting, but it’s elevated by the performances. I disagree with Dargis’ assertion that Fey’s performance isn’t as good as Poehler’s. I actually think that Fey’s comedic voice feels fully-formed in Baby Mama in a way that Poehler’s doesn’t. Poehler was still Saturday Night Live‘s go-to female then. She was playing a half-dozen different parts a night and while she’s adorable and impish as Angie, there are little tics, like her accent, that don’t match from scene to scene. Not to mention that she’s playing a character who is not all that close to her current comedic voice, which is strangely jarring now. The Tina Fey that we see in Baby Mama is the Tina Fey we’ve always seen, and it’s the Tina Fey we’ll see on Golden Globes night.

Baby Mama makes some great jokes about the awkwardness of childbirth, but it also offers some particularly scathing commentary about class in modern America. Sure, we’ve all heard a million jokes about smoothies and Whole Foods, but when was the last time you really saw a fluffy comedy film take an affluent protagonist to task for their smug self-satisfaction?

There’s been a surge of great female-driven comedies in the last five years that shows no signs of letting up and Baby Mama feels like a dress rehearsal for future successes like Bridesmaids or The Heat. Furthermore, the friction between Fey’s sharp and uptight Kate and Poehler’s woman-child Angie could be seen as foreshadowing the humor of Broad City or New Girl.

But Baby Mama isn’t just a showcase for women in comedy. In fact, the film’s biggest scene-stealer is a young, beardless Jason Mantzoukas (aka Rafi from The League). He plays a “manorexic” father-to-be who is concerned that his baby might be fat. It’s a sharp turn from the jovial psychopaths he plays now (see also: Parks and Recreation), and it’s hilarious.

I wouldn’t say that Baby Mama is a great comedy film. By that, I mean I wouldn’t include it in any comedic film canon. It’s amusing, enjoyable, but ultimately only really noteworthy because of its stars. I would personally much rather watch clips of Fey and Poehler bantering as themselves, and I don’t think I’m in the minority. There’s a reason why Fey and Poehler have become the Golden Globes’ go-to co-hosts. They have impeccable comic timing, sheer fearlessness, and profound likability.

Baby Mama‘s biggest problem is that it places these two extraordinary women at odds with each other. Fey and Poehler’s chemistry doesn’t come from friction, but from their friendship. The best of friendships are laced with inside jokes that only make sense if you’re in the fold and the reason why we love to hear Tina Fey and Amy Poehler telling jokes together is that they have a way of making you feel that all their jokes are their personal inside jokes, and that they’re looping you in, and for that moment when you’re laughing at their devastating punchline, you’re best friends with them, too. [Watch Baby Mama]

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler host the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards this Sunday, January 11.

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[Photos: Everett Collection]