Birth. Been there. Done that. KnowwhatI’msayin’? Birth shows up in a lot of films. But few films are actually about birth. And fewer still will treat it, quite correctly I might add, as adult comedy. If you think about it, um, yeah, it is funny. Try explaining it to yourself for fun, “well, when the fetus gets to the size of a bowling ball, you push it through that opening.” There’s a lot of comedy there if you think about it. And the makers of Babes have.
This film is essentially the story of two women in labor, one at the beginning of the film and the other at the end. Dawn (Michelle Buteau) has her water break in a movie theater “ewww, this seat is wet … ewww, this one, too!” Maybe it’s not the seat. Naturally, she abandons the theater … and goes to a restaurant. It’s hard to avoid humor here. The woman is in labor and she has decided it’s time for an expensive brunch. Eden (writer/star Ilana Glazer) is friend enough to inspect Dawn’s dilation under the table. That is a true friend. And, yeah, this is what Babes is like. Ilana Glazer gives a performance that leaves nothing in the locker room. Every bit if her personality and then some shows up on screen.
After the birth, Dawn demands sushi. So Eden collects $500 worth of sushi only to be shoo’ed out of the hospital by the nursing staff. So, yeah, $500 worth of sushi and four subway trains to catch. What would you do? [TBH, there’s nothing quite like the aroma of a NYC subway car to enjoy raw fish. I assume this is how we will all eat sushi in the future.]
On the train, Eden meets Claude (Stephan James), a movie extra playing a movie extra. Claude is instantly likeable and the two have chemistry. Which makes it all the greater a shame when he dies the very next day after impregnating Eden. Pregnant Eden is, essentially, this film’s arc. Eden, a very needy, energetic, and neur
otic friend, on her pathway to becoming a single mother in New York City, something that happens every day, but nobody recommends.
This film has a very Bridesmaids energy. So, sure, I’d call Babes a women’s film, except I think this material can successfully be presented to any adult who is capable of understanding pregnancy and having a friend who is kind of nuts. That really should be all of us, but – let’s face it- a few members of a gender I might represent can only handle films where a car crashes or a gun is fired, not a film where there is a train wreck and a live wire (but each only in metaphorical form).
Babes is a remarkable film for smaller roles. Not to take anything away from the leads, Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau both gave the spotlight a memory or two, but Babes marks the first time in years I was sad when a film killed a character off entirely because I wanted to see more of the actor (in this case Stephan James). James wasn’t alone; Babes also got great throw-away moments out of medical personnel Kenneth Lucas and Keith Lucas, Crystal Finn, and John Carroll Lynch. We’ve seen Lynch in, what? 1,000 films? When is the last time you can remember his performance? I gotta chalk up the secondary player love to both writers (Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz) as well as director Pamela Adlon.
Ever since the demise of Woody Allen, NYC filmmakers have vied for his topdog spot as borough comedrama king. Noah Baumbach has come the closest to this title (with a nod to Greta Gerwig), but Babes makes me wonder if Pamela Adlon is vying for the title. I have no idea where her career goes from here, but I want to find out.
Two women with friendship homespun
Were each challenged by a biological “bun”
Would birth be a drain?
And derail that train
Not so. Their love has added a “plus one”
Rated R, 104 Minutes
Director: Pamela Adlon
Writer: Ilana Glazer, Josh Rabinowitz
Genre: Fun biology?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who have given birth
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The people who wished they hadn’t seen that
