UniversalReview in a Hurry: Our bump-obsessed world finally gets the comedic treatment it deserves, thanks to Saturday Night Live cohorts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. It's a perfectly bred combination of razor-sharp satire and female buddy comedy.
The Bigger Picture: Kate (Fey) is in a nowadays all-too-familiar conundrum: Single and successful, all she wants is a baby—and she can't have one. ("I don't like your uterus," her doctor intones.) Desperate, she hires a surrogate mother, Angie (Poehler), a rather, shall we say, inelegant and down-on-her luck gal. To say they're the female Odd Couple is an understatement: Kate is a corporate VP; Angie's in the sink.
The film delights in all sorts of bathroom humor, of the female kind. And since when have women had their day in the gross-out sun? Well, ladies, celebrate, because it's all here, from oozing olive oil on your woo-woo to explicit hormone talk. It's true that women are a lot more frank and uninhibited amongst themselves than many people (you know, men) realize, and Fey and Poehler let it all hang out. Like, a lot.
The script, written by another SNL alum (and a man!), Michael McCullers, deals with Kate and Angie's plight with both sympathy and sarcasm. Designer baby names, fertility-flaunting mamas and paternity tests all get time in the hot seat, sure to please those of us disgusted by the media's current obsession with celebrity spawn.
The 180—a Second Opinion: Veteran actors flesh out the supporting cast, including Sigourney Weaver, Holland Taylor and Steve Martin. While Fey and Poehler are good, these guys are great, and they nearly overshadow the leading ladies.