I'm not what you'd call a certified expert on women's essential needs. However, I have enough basic knowledge to conclude that the Netflix/Happy Madison collaboration "Kinda Pregnant" couldn't have come out at a worse time. Because when I think about when to release a "comedy" about a woman (Amy Schumer) faking a pregnancy to reap benefits in her social life, it's when there's currently talk about certain women's rights being taken away. To think that Schumer and Julie Paiva together concocted this tonally deaf script.
Where do I begin with this one? First of all, the plot concept was a bad idea to begin with. This film basically centers around our lead getting caught in a lie of her own making, resulting in terrible cliches that have been dated since the 1990's. I'm talking, of course, about the "liar revealed" trope that almost everyone hates, which always resolves the same whether the characters deserve their solution or not. So there goes any reason to care or invest in this plot. Second of all, the characters we follow in the story are quite obnoxious.
For the sake of being reasonable, I did find one character that felt genuine and real, and that's Brianne Howey as a pregnant woman our lead befriends and relates to. She's the closest thing to a normal human being here, and her dialogue is easily the most balanced of the lot. The same cannot be said for the rest of the cast. Lizze Broadway wears out her welcome fairly quickly as a weak semi-rival to our lead. Urzila Carlson as a school administrator and confidant went on way too long with her tiresome manic energy and antics.
You're bound to forget that there are comedic actors like Will Forte, Jillian Bell and Damon Wayans, Jr. in this film. The reason for this is that they have no funny material to work with whatsoever. Hope you like jokes about coffee and threesomes with these three. Because those are the only things you'll remember about them here. The chemistry between Forte and Schumer is lame. I saw a gag with Forte's bedroom in a garage coming a mile away, and it still failed to pull the joke off....and it's repeated twice no less.
I'm mixed on Amy Schumer as a whole. I think she's definitely been overhyped. At the same time, I've seen worse actresses coming from this industry. But one thing is quite clear. She's unconvincing in selling her character's "main" motivation towards being a mother. This person doesn't strike me as the type who'd be interested in parenthood. The sole reasoning being that the evidence presented to us makes raising and teaching kids look like hell. I'd think the film would want to try harder in selling parenthood to those who aren't convinced.
Balance is a concept that ceases to exist within this film, both with watching it and the lack of consistency in what unfolds within it. For instance, the locations our lead works at or visits like the middle school and yoga place. The vibe I pick up from these settings is that they're a complete nightmare. The teachers are poor at their job, as if they know nothing about discipline and structure. Yoga and pregnant women should never mix, especially when there's an overabundance of flatulence involved. Not even a Toys R Us or restaurant is safe.
This cringey vibe also carries over to the film's overall production quality. It wouldn't be a Happy Madison project without crappy licensed music, automatically making it outdated for future filmgoers. There's a scene taking place in a butterfly sanctuary where I'm certain the butterflies themselves are all CGI. As for the number of times Schumer's "baby" gets damaged, you have a better chance of convincing the Supreme Court that fairies are real than convincing a toddler that a mother and her fetus can survive that many pitfalls.
When your average physical gag fails to land, that alone should tell you all you need to know about this comedy's absence of genuine laughs. If you were to tell me that many of the baffling decisions made by our current government were on the basis of films within this ilk, that honestly wouldn't surprise me. While "Emilia Perez" proved troubling to Mexican culture and the trans community, "Kinda Pregnant" blatantly insults the vast majority of women, whether they want kids or not. Even the few hints at abortion here provoke without even trying.
"Kinda Pregnant" pulls off a distinction that is seldom conceivable to manage in theory. It's both annoyingly dumb, with its over-the-top acting and writing that never strikes a firm tonal balance at all, and surprisingly boring. When I wasn't rolling my eyes at the terrible humor throughout, I was getting ready to take a nap since I wasn't seeing anything meaningful happen on screen. If a guy told me he attempted to take birth control just to feel cleaner after watching this, which I'm certain is impossible, I'd also cease to be shocked by such a statement.
Final Verdict: 2/10
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