Almost Pregnant

Split opinions: thumb up from Tuna, down from Scoop. We both liked the nudity from two famous women.

Tuna's comments in white:

Almost Pregnant (1992) has always been one of my favorite sex comedies.

Linda and Charlie Alderson (Jeff Conway and Tanya Roberts) are seeing a fertility doctor (Dom DeLuise), and discover that the problem is with Charlie. When changing style of shorts and ice packs on the testicles don't help, Linda comes up with another solution. Since Charlie keeps striking out, she suggests a pinch hitter. Charlie reluctantly agrees, and their weird neighbor Gordon Mallory (John Calvin) is drafted. The deal has to be kept a secret from the neighbor's Maureen, who is a hip mom with five kids. "You don't hit your kids, do you?" asks Linda. "No ... they are too fast," she answers.

Things get more complex when the neighbor reveals to Linda that he husband has had a vasectomy. Linda then turns to Charlie's cousin for additional help, but does not tell either her husband or the neighbor. Meanwhile, Charlie starts a thing with the neighbor's wife just because he has nothing else to pass the time while his wife is getting laid. He is astounded to find the sexy neighbor pregnant with his baby, despite his low sperm count. Meanwhile, his own wife finally get pregnant with the baby of ... well, nobody can really be eliminated. Weird Gordon had his vasectomy reversed; Charlie is obviously not as infertile as he once thought, and Charlie's cousin is a baby-making machine ...

Scoop's notes in yellow:

Except for the nudity, I don't really like the film very much at all. I don't hate it, but it's a really just a juvenile sitcom which happens to have sex scenes. The level of humor is illustrated by the fact that Dom DeLuise is one of the most sophisticated performers in it. DeLuise seems like Kenneth Branagh compared to the guy who overplays the part of Gordon, the next-door neighbor. That guy would get kicked off Gilligan's Island for excessive hamminess.

If it were breast-free, there would be no good reason to watch it, but it is not breast-free, so there are some very good reasons. It features copious nudity from Tanya Roberts and some sexy exposure from Joan Severance, and they are both very beautiful, so I was able to enjoy the film on the basis of the nudity alone.

It is hard to imagine that there was ever a time when Jeff Conaway's name appeared above the title, but such was the case with this film. OK, it was a grade B film and it doesn't seem to have had a theatrical release, but still ... ?? Jeff Conaway, headliner? For a brief period in the early 90s, Jeff was the prince of straight-to-video, especially the comedy division. He made eight films in the 1992-93 period alone.

Of course, he then landed a lead on Babylon 5, and his career made a major turn. For the better, in my opinion.

DVD INFO:

This film is not available on a Region 1 DVD. The link to the left goes to a VHS tape. There is a Region 2 PAL DVD available in the U.K., and you can order it from the Brit version of Amazon. DVD info from Amazon UK. If you are thinking of buying DVDs from outside your region, read this first.

NUDITY REPORT

The credits list Lisa Comshaw as a body double, and there has always been speculation about who really showed what, but DVD quality and single frame capability have solved the mystery. Lisa Comshaw was used for some breast and bun shots interspersed in a long sex montage, probably done long after principal photography was a wrap. We see breast and bun closeups, and no hint of face in these shots.
Tanya Roberts shows breasts and buns on and off through much of the film, and we even get a brief flash of bush in one scene.
Severance shows breasts and buns, including one scene where she is dancing on the bed doing a dance of the seven veils. Since her face was covered for much of this, some have suggested that the double was used here, but this is clearly not the case.

The Critics

Rotten Tomatoes: two reviews, both negative, averaging less than one star out of four. (A .5/4, and a 3/10)

The People Vote ...

IMDB summary. IMDb voters score it 4.5/10

The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. (C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by genre fans, while C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie although genre addicts find it watchable). D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-.

Based on this description, Tuna says, "This film is a full C. I think the IMDb score suffers from being too much of a comedy for the soft porn lovers, and having too much nudity for the comedy people. Since I enjoy both, I highly recommend it. Severance is great, and there is some very funny material." Scoop says, "C-. I don't much like it, to tell you the truth. It is a sitcom with tits, and some of the humor is very childish and unsophisticated. Two words: Dom Deluise. There are, however, two women who remove some clothing, and those women are both well known and attractive."