> Baby Mama
Directed by: Michael McCullers
Starring: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Romany Mako, Sigourney Weaver, Steve MartinRating: M Kate Holbrook (Tina Fey, left) and Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Poehler).
4 stars (out tof 5)
Review by Christine Powley
For those of you not hip to the lingo of the streets a baby mama is the woman left holding the child when the relationship (usually fleeting) is over.
So instead of saying "she's my ex-girlfriend or the mother of my child", you say "that's my baby mama".
The main joke of Baby Mama (Rialto and Hoyts) is that the person with a baby mama is a woman.
Kate Holbrook (Tina Fey) has made it, career-wise.
She always thought she did not want kids then suddenly she woke up with baby fever.
Being an A type personality, she immediately investigates all her options and they are not good.
Surrogacy seems the best way forward and soon she has her baby mama picked out.
Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Poehler) is not perfect but she is willing.
What Kate does not anticipate is that Angie ends up moving in with her when her marriage breaks up.
It is the classic odd couple situation that movies so love.
Although this is being pitched as a female buddy movie, the strongest elements are Kate's relationships with the secondary characters, who at least are interesting.
It is hard to care for Angie, who is a one-note character, (childish) so when she comes good in the final half it does not feel real.
Best thing: Steve Martin does a cameo as Kate's new age boss Barry, reminding you just how good he can be with decent material.
Worse thing: For an empowering female comedy it has a disconcerting amount of ageism directed at Sigourney Weaver's character.
See it with: out expecting to be rolling in the aisles. These are jokes to make you smile rather than laugh.
> Tropic Thunder
Directed By: Ben Stiller
Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr, Nick Nolte, Tom Cruise, Jack Black, Matthew Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson, Steve Coogan, Matthew McConaughey, Tyra Banks, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Alicia Silverstone, Jason Bateman.
Rating: R16
3 stars (out of 5)
Review by Mark Orton
Led by the appropriately named Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), a group of egocentric actors is let loose in the jungle to make a Vietnam War epic.
Unbeknown to them, the production takes the liberty of setting the scene, survivor-style, in the Golden Triangle.
With a few hokey twists and outrageous pyrotechnics, the reluctant stars find themselves at war (for real) with a Laotian drug cartel.
Enlisting the help of his A-list buddies, Ben Stiller writes, directs and stars in the $90-million joke.
Nothing is sacred, as over-the-top studio moguls, method actors, novice directors, mental retardation, Vietnam vets and Eddie Murphy all come under fire.
After the frenetic humour established in some brilliant fake trailers, Tropic Thunder loses its way a little.
Lacking the wry pathos of a Christopher Guest mockumentary, it nevertheless manages to slip through some clever in-jokes.
Pastiche rather than offensive bigotry, Tropic Thunder is likely to polarise viewers.
That said; it is still a worthy addition to the Vietnam War film tradition.
View with: An understanding of Hollywood (and Vietnam War film) history.
Best thing: A close tie between Robert Downey in blackface and Tom Cruise in a fat suit.
Worst thing: Killing Steve Coogan early.
