Tina Fey’s justly celebrated work on 30 Rock sets a very high bar for comedic invention that isn’t matched by her first major movie outing with pal Amy Poehler, her former co-anchor on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update. I blame the timid script and direction by Michael McCullers, a fellow SNL alum and Austin Powers screenwriter who’s reluctant to stray too far from familiar story beats and allow his stars to bust their respective grooves.

Fey still gets her wry on as Kate, a 37-year-old career woman who “outsources” her pregnancy to Angie (Poehler), a junk food–loving social lesser who plays Oscar to Kate’s Felix when they become roomies. When not coping with her “baby mama drama,” Kate gets face time with a potential new beau (Greg Kinnear) and her flaky, ponytailed boss (Steve Martin in what’s easily his funniest screen appearance in a decade). The movie gets full marks for the Silkwood shower-scene parody, the cunning use of Chris de Burgh’s “The Lady in Red” and instantly quotable lines like “she wants me to rub olive oil on your taint.” But Baby Mama’s predictable story arc and gooey centre don’t leave much room for the wingnuttiness that reigns supreme at Fey’s day job.

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