"BABY ON BOARD"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: ** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Heather Graham as ANGELA Jerry O’Connell as CURTIS John Corbett as DANNY Lara Flynn Boyle as MARY Katie Finneran as SYLVIA Brian Sills as RAPHY Anthony Starke as DR. ROBERT TAYLOR Rated R Studio: Entertainment 7 Directed by: Brian Herzlinger Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Angela (Heather Graham) is trying to land a new vice president position by spearheading her first perfume line. However, when she discovers she’s pregnant and suspects her husband Curtis (Jerry O’Connell) is cheating on her, her life falls into a tizzy. Curtis thinks she may have been unfaithful, and Angela is certain he’s sleeping with a client. They refuse to talk and work things out while their marriage begins to fall apart.
WHAT I LIKED
I’ve seen more than my fair share of raunchy comedies, and I might even consider myself a fan of the genre. In this respect, I enjoyed the raunchy aspects of “Baby On Board” to a certain degree. You wouldn’t expect a baby-centric film to have as much raunchy elements as this one did, but I’ve got to give props to any movie that features Heather Graham farting, then puking on a valet, along with a shot of an old guy whose balls hang down to his knees... and all within the first ten minutes.
“Baby on Board” definitely earns its R rating, not just with language and the aforementioned old man balls, but also for a some nude scenes which range from the pleasant (featuring a stripper atop Jerry O’Connell) to the disturbing (featuring an bunch of old dudes with man-boobs in a “Korean handjob place”). I suppose this is something to cheer about.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
I’m not sure if “Baby on Board” was a response to “Knocked Up” or a run-of-the-mill cinematic coincidence, but there is a certain degree of overlap there. However, the title “Knocked Up” with Seth Rogen’s goofy face on the poster did not surprise audiences when it had so much blue humor in the story. However, the cover box of “Baby on Board” gives no indication of how raunchy the movie could be. It might be a bit of a shock for someone looking for a sweet rom-com date movie and stumbling across this flick.
While certain parts of the movie can be very funny, the writing seemed very forced. The time frame of a pregnancy is condensed to a short 90 minutes, which makes the long vow of silence that Angela and Curtis have seem almost doable, but never reasonable. Also, the dialogue is so deliberately structured so the characters never ask each other about the possible indiscretions but rather just sulk and act indignant when confronted. This can work for a 22-minute “Three’s Company” episode but it doesn’t fly in a feature-length film that’s supposed to take place over nine months.
Finally, I don’t expect perfect realism from the films that I watch, but I would like a certain amount of due diligence in the research for the writing. It’s clear that the writers, producers and directors don’t have any idea what goes into the delivery of a child, nor how the legal system works (considering Curtis’ job as the best attorney in Chicago, which comes off utterly ridiculous). I expected a little more from a movie that could land a cast like this.
DVD FEATURES
The DVD comes with a feature commentary featuring director Brian Herzlinger and producer Emilio Ferrari. There’s also the original trailer and a photo gallery.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Someone looking for “Knocked Up” lite.
