Maybe Baby (2001) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski) and Tuna

This is the story about a writer. He and his wife are obsessed with having a baby, and seem incapable for non-specific reasons. They go through every intrusive medical procedure to attempt a solution.

He also has writer's block.

There's no solution to the baby thing, but there's an obvious solution to the writer's block. "Write what you know".

He writes a comedy about their failure to conceive. In graphic and clinical detail.

NUDITY REPORT

Joely Richardson shows one breast in a bathtub scene, and most of her bum in a scene with her screen husband.

Unfortunately he makes certain mistakes, which provoke additional alleged hilarity:

  1. He lies to his wife and doesn't tell her that he's writing a movie about her "twat" and its failure to facilitate conception.
  2. Lacking the proper female perspective for the 'wife' character, he reads his wife's diaries, and injects her private thoughts into the script. He doesn't tell her this, either.
  3. He hires his wife's would-be lover to star in his script, not as the would-be lover, but as the husband!

Hoo-boy, she isn't happy when she finds out.

I like just about everything Ben Elton has ever written (much of the Blackadder series, e.g.), but this didn't seem like his A+ material. While this script isn't the second coming of "Blazing Saddles", it does have some laughs, and a certain feel of reality to it, and you could believe that the script really did come about this way. It works fairly well for a predictable formula comedy. It also has some funny, if equally predictable, supporting performances.

DVD info from Amazon.

  • Full-screen format

Predictable? Rowan Atkinson in an British comedy? Will wonders never cease?

Indeed, when King John signed the Magna Carta, he had to acknowledge that all Englishmen have certain rights. Among those are the right to see Rowan Atkinson whenever watching any form of entertainment. Although John could not have specifically mentioned Rowan Atkinson some 800 years ago, he did say "that infernal, rubbery-faced Mr Bean fellow", so everyone understood what he meant.

Tuna's Thoughts

The humor, to me, centered around their attempts to conceive, and his "sins" against Joely Richardson were meant as act two of a romantic comedy aspect. I found much of the dialogue to be laugh-out-loud funny, and I adored Tom Hollander as a trendy Scottish film maker. For me, this was one of the funniest films I have seen this year.

The Critics Vote

  • BBC 4/5

The People Vote ...

  • with their dollars: £3.3 million in the UK. No significant US release. (2 theaters)
IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or 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. 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.

Based on this description, this film is a C. Average comedy. (Tuna "high C+", "laugh-out-loud funny")

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