We have by now become accustomed to the lengths some movie characters will go to keep a good comedy lie going. But it鈥檚 still a special kind of feat when , playing a baby-mad single woman who fakes a baby bump in 鈥淜inda Pregnant,鈥� is so desperate to maintain the fiction that she shoves a roast turkey up her dress.
You might be thinking: This is too ridiculous. The stuffing, alone. But if we bought 鈥淪ome Like it Hot鈥� and 鈥淢rs. Doubtfire,鈥� I see no reason to quibble with the set-up of 鈥淜inda Pregnant,鈥� a funny and often perceptive satire on motherhood, both real and pretend.
鈥淜inda Pregnant,鈥� which debuted Wednesday on Netflix, is a kinda throwback comedy. Like 鈥�40-Year-Old Virgin鈥� and 鈥淲edding Crashers,鈥� you can basically get the movie just from its title.
But like any good high-concept comedy, 鈥淜inda Pregnant鈥� is predominantly a far-fetched way for its star and co-writer, Schumer, to riff frankly on her chosen topic. Here, that鈥檚 the wide gamut of pregnancy experience 鈥� the body changes, the gender reveal parties, the personal jealousies 鈥� all while mixing in a healthy amount of pseudo-pregnant pratfalls.
It鈥檚 been a decade since Schumer was essentially launched as a movie star in the But 鈥淜inda Pregnant,鈥� which Schumer wrote with Julie Paiva, almost as adeptly channels Schumer鈥檚 comic voice 鈥� the one that made the sketch series 鈥淚nside Amy Schumer鈥� so great.
The movie鈥檚 opening flashes back to Lainey (Schumer) as a child playing with dolls and imagining herself a mother-to-be. So committed is she to the role that Lainey, in mock-labor, screams at her friend and then politely apologies: 鈥淪orry, but the expectant mother often lashes out at her support system.鈥�
But as middle age approaches, Lainey, a high school teacher in Brooklyn, isn鈥檛 close to her dream. At the dinner where she suspects 鈥� no, is so certain that she tears open the desert looking for a ring 鈥� that her longtime boyfriend (Damon Wayans Jr.) is going to pop the question, he instead asks her to join a threesome. Back at school, Lainey鈥檚 school lesson on 鈥淩omeo and Juliet鈥� turns darkly cynical.
Things are even worse when Lainey鈥檚 married best friend (Jillian Bell) divulges that she鈥檚 pregnant. 鈥淕et rid of it!鈥� blurts Lainey before apologizing. When the pair later go clothes shopping, Lainey absentmindedly tries on belly padding. The saleswoman is instantly nice to her, offering a burrito and a foot rub. 鈥淲ho鈥檚 the father?鈥� she asks. 鈥淒oor dash,鈥� responds Lainey before adding, 鈥渄river.鈥�
Much of the fun in 鈥淜inda Pregnant鈥� is watching Lainey come up with increasingly ridiculous lies as she tries to pull off the pregnant act. (After accidentally picking Thanksgiving as her time of inception, Lainey digs a deeper hole by suggesting it happened at 鈥渁 Black Friday Eve sale.鈥�)
But the ruse becomes more difficult when she, during a pregnant workout class, meets a woman (Brianne Howey, refreshingly authentic) she genuinely likes and wants to be friends with. Even more complicated: Lainey starts falling for another guy she first meets at a coffee shop ( ).
In a movie filled with funny people (others include Urzila Carlson as a guidance counselor, and Alex Moffat as a idiotic father-to-be) Forte is an especially good presence in 鈥淜inda Pregnant.鈥� For a performer of such madcap absurdity, Forte fits in remarkably naturally in a more rom-com setting. He鈥檚 also got a wonderfully ridiculous occupation, even by rom-com standards, driving a Zamboni in Central Park.
You can probably guess how 鈥淜inda Pregnant鈥� goes from here. Director Tyler Spindel, nephew to (a producer on the film), doesn't do anything to advance the movie comedy, a languishing proposition in recent years with . But he crucially gives his performers plenty of space to be themselves, and Lainey's desperate desire to have a family comes across as both over-the-top and genuine. If 鈥淜nocked Up鈥� captured the comedy of getting unexpectedly pregnant, 鈥淜inda Pregnant鈥� embodies the pain of wishing you were.
鈥淜inda Pregnant,鈥� a Netflix release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for sexual content, language throughout and drug use. Running time: 97 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press