"Baby Mama" was not written by Tina Fey, as I assumed, but by a fresh double threat named Michael McCullers: the scribe behind "Austin Powers in: Goldmember," and "Undercover Brother." This immediately lowered my expectations as I thought that the partnering of Fey and Poehler would be enough to carry the film to an end. However, the script as its own entity was fine, it was the performances that seemed canned. Almost as if McCullers kept telling the actors, "do less;" which in this particular type of comedy is a "no, no." Not even the brief "Caddyshack" reference (used to accentuate Fey's breasts) almost works (as I am openly obssessed with the actress), but not enough to save this pallid and tepid attempt at comedy. The only conclusion I can arrive to is poor direction. Granted, it's McCullers first, but I refuse to be generous. Let the talent breathe. You got Steve Martin, Dax Shepherd, and Tina Fey/ Amy Poehler. Let them do their thang! I would bore you all with the plot of the movie but I won't. I will tell you that it is not as bad as a post SNL Rob Schneider cinematic wall shot, but it only aspires to little and therefore it reaches... little. Did I learn anything about women? If I were to judge by this, I can conclude that successful business women pay the price by having a barren womb (until they accidentally fall in love) and that they must rely on uneducated, trashy women to gain a personality and if lucky, a surrogate baby. To make matters worse, when watching the original ending (as a DVD extra) you will find yourself thinking: "Why didn't they go with this instead??" - as it ties everything up much nicer than its original.
"The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants 2." Yes, I did watch this sequel with much more anticipation than I will with McG's "Terminator- Salvation." Why? Because the characters are still fresh and still intriguing as they were in the first. I mean come on, if this were a story about a bunch of high school boys, it would be about drinking, screwing, and having fun. But that movie was made already and it was called "American Pie." The "Pants" series, however, are somewhat of the "Pie" franchise in reverse as we deal with similar cliches of the young female teen species, but handled with better care and respect toward the characters. The gals, although homogenous in their needs to be loved, respected, accepted, or in some cases, forgiven, they all appear very distinct. Each with a different personality and aspiration. There's even a hispanic (the cleverly named America Ferrara). Unlike "Mama," "Pants" is directed by a female, Sanaa Hamri, also in her feature debut. Not to be Captain Obvious, but she appeared to have a bit more control over her subjects (as they're all pretty talented) and the fact that the previous film was also a hit of sorts. I'm particularly smitten by Amber Tamblyn (Tibby) who handles a pregnancy scare so well; with enough humor and pathos to make Meryl Streep proud. What did I learn about women? That they are more than the sum of their young, adolescent (in this case, young adulthood) parts. That they have to deal with more responsibility and social stigma than men. That women are complicated at an early age. However, if you're pretty enough or if you surround yourself with the right group of people, everything will be alright. Even if you don't have a pair of jeans to pass around and share with your buds. Something that men would never, ever do.
