Although she's getting more into acting now, I first saw Olivia Munn on a show that she hosted a few years ago called Attack of the Show. At the time, I begin to notice that she was developing quite a following with men who found her to be attractive. It could have been her plan all along, but apparently she and her handlers also saw this and decided she would have a decent chance at establishing herself as an actress. She has an energy and a vibe that could go over well and her people probably thought that a movie like The Babymakers might be what she needs to truly kick start her career.
In this movie, Audrey (Olivia Munn) and Tommy (Paul Schneider) are a happily married couple who are at a comfortable time in their lives together. At this point, they both agree that it's the right time to have a baby. They try again and again to get it done, but for some reason they can't get it to happen. Fearing that he might not be able to have kids, Tommy resorts to extreme measures after he remembers that he made some "deposits" at a sperm bank years earlier. So he rounds up his friends and an ex-Indian Mobster (Jay Chandrasekhar) to assist him in obtaining his donation. If he's successful, he may be able to get his wife pregnant and build the family that they're both dreaming of.
A movie like The Babymakers always has it's heart set on being funny. In order to accomplish this task, they rely on a story that revolves around a married couple and the friends that surround them. As stated earlier, the goal for these guys is to help their friend come up with a resolution to his sperm problem. Once that's finally outed as the main storyline we get into what is supposed to be the backbone of the film. We get to watch Tommy get into unconventional circumstances while maintaining the full love and support of his wife Audrey.
Over the course of The Babymakers, we get something that's similar to the countless sitcoms that have been on television for as long as I can remember. Here, Audrey and her friends are the responsible, balanced and stable half, while Tommy and his friends are the bumbling idiots who can't seem to get anything right. This is typical stuff from sitcoms where the women are all mature and the men couldn't do anything without them. I've hated this in comedies since I was a kid and I hate it now. It's not that it's a bad thing to use every now and then, it's the fact that it's been used to death. So if I don't want to see it on t.v., you know I don't want to go out of my way to see it in a movie theater. Not only that, it almost has no meaning in this movie based on how the women are used.
Outside of the women (Olivia Munn) being eye candy and being viewed as the responsible half of the two genders, they serve no real purpose in the movie and they're only in it because they have to be. You couldn't make a movie about sperm with an all male cast, because that might get people thinking that they're about to watch a "different" kind of movie. As responsible as the females are supposed to be, they don't actually do anything. They say their piece (usually to each other) and then they disappear from the sight for a while. The spotlight always goes right back to the guys getting into situations where the audience gets to witness some comedic gags that never really deliver.
To me, The Babymakers is an extremely rare comedy though. It's rare in a sense that it's one of the few comedies where I literally didn't laugh at any of the jokes or gags that are being showcased. None of what they did ever worked and none of it is even close to being funny. This film looks like it was done by a bunch of amateurs who have never written a comedic script before and have never been behind a camera. I would think that writers and directors would learn things as they go on in their careers, but it doesn't look like that's the case with these guys.
Being completely fair, there are about two scenes that I found reasonably amusing even though they failed to make me laugh or anything. One of the scenes involved the character played by Kevin Heffernan when they get into the sperm bank. It's nothing to write home about and it's highly predictable, but it's one of the best spots in the movie. The other one involved a joke involving Jesus Christ and is the second spot in the movie that's somewhat amusing. Other than that the rest of The Babymakers is completely flat and lacks anything that can be perceived as decent.
When I look at the comedy in The Babymakers, I think some of it might have worked better if it actually occurred in real life. These things would be rare occurrences and they would catch you off guard, because we're not used to seeing them. But as I say that, I have to acknowledge that these Broken Lizard guys even made a man getting hit below the belt seem corny and unfunny in this movie. Except for when it happens to me, I always laugh that happens. I didn't think it was possible for me not to laugh at something like that until I watched this "comedy."
The entire mood of the movie is just as tired and lifeless as the comedy. It's certainly an uninspired effort on the part the team that put this together. This team has failed on several occasions now and I don't know if they can do any better than this. I don't really understand why they keep getting these opportunities. If they do continue to get chances, I hope they finally succeed and put something out that's worth while. It will be great for me as a movie watcher and it will be great for them, because it will be the first entertaining movie that they've ever put out.
As for Olivia Munn? She's going to have to get moving and make some movies that can help her establish herself and build her brand as an actress. The Babymakers isn't helping her cause and it's one of the worst comedies that I've ever seen. Doing more movies like this wouldn't be good for her or her fans. This was so bad, that i even had to make some alterations to the way that I handle scoring on The Movie Picture Show. You don't want to be connected to movies that fail as bad as this one did when you have the potential to stand out in various ways. Doing movies like this can cost you fans and a large amount of money.
Score: 0/5
Rating: R
Director: Jay Chandrasekhar
Cast:
Paul Schneider
Olivia Munn
Kevin Heffernan
Wood Harris
Nat Faxon
Aisha Tyler
Jay Chandrasekhar
Film Length: 93 minutes
Release Date: Aug 3, 2012 (Limited)
Distributor: Millenium Entertainment
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