Baby Mama is a 2008 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Michael McCullers in his directorial debut and starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Romany Malco, Maura Tierney, Holland Taylor, with Steve Martin, and Sigourney Weaver.
Plot
Successful single businesswoman Kate Holbrook has always prioritized her career over her personal life. Now at age 37, she finally decides to have her own child, but discovers she has a T-shaped uterus, minimizing her chances of becoming pregnant. Also denied the chance to adopt, Kate hires immature, obnoxious, South Philadelphian Angie Ostrowski to become her surrogate mother.
After learning from Chaffee Bicknell, the steely head of their surrogacy center, that Angie has become pregnant, Kate prepares for motherhood in her own typically driven fashion; reading childcare books, baby-proofing the apartment, and researching top pre-schools. However, her strategy is upended when Angie shows up at her door, homeless. Their conflicting personalities put them at odds as Kate learns first-hand about balancing motherhood and career, especially when she begins dating the owner of a local blended-juice cafe, Rob Ackerman.
Unbeknownst to Kate, Angie's in-vitro fertilization procedure had failed and she is feigning the pregnancy, hoping to ultimately run off with her payment. She starts to regret lying, but continually puts off confessing. When Angie gets an ultrasound, she discovers she is indeed pregnant. Realizing the baby is her own - with her common-law husband Carl, from whom she is separated - Angie is forced to confess at Kate's baby shower. Kate explains to Angie that the pregnancy test was supposed to be taken two weeks after the procedure, so the baby could still belong to her.
A court hearing determines that the baby is Angie's, and Angie impassionedly apologizes to Kate. As the women meet face-to-face after the proceedings, Angie's water breaks and Kate rushes her to the hospital, then passes out during the birth. As she wakes up, the doctor supervising Angie tells Kate that she's two months pregnant (the result of her relationship with Rob). After receiving the news, she visits Angie, who is holding her newborn daughter Stef, named for Gwen Stefani. Kate forgives Angie and they become best friends, ultimately changing each other for the better.
A year later at Stef's first-birthday party, Kate and Rob have had a daughter and are engaged, and Angie and Kate have retained a sister-like relationship. Although he does not reunite with Angie, Carl stays close to his daughter and takes parenting classes. In the final scene, Angie and Kate sit in front of a television set with their daughters, watching Tom and Jerry cartoons.
Cast
Tina Fey as Katherine "Kate" Holbrook - Mother
Amy Poehler as Angela "Angie" Ostrowski - Surrogate mother
Greg Kinnear as Rob Ackerman - SuperFruity cafe owner
Dax Shepard as Carl Loomis - Angie's 'Common Law' husband
Sigourney Weaver as Chaffee Bicknell - Surrogate agent
Steve Martin as Barry Waterman - Kate's boss - Round Earth Organic Market
Romany Malco as Oscar Priyan - Doorman
Maura Tierney as Caroline - Kate's sister
Holland Taylor as Rose Holbrook - Kate's mother
Stephen Mailer as Dan
Siobhan Fallon Hogan as The Birthing Teacher
Kevin Collins as Rick - Round Earth employee
Will Forte as Scott - Kate's former boyfriend
Denis O'Hare as Dr. Manheim
Fred Armisen as The Stroller Salesman
James Rebhorn as Judge
John Hodgman as Fertility Specialist
Thomas McCarthy as Kate's Date
Jason Mantzoukas as Jonothan - Surrogate father
Dave Finkel as Gay Couple
Brian Stack as Dave
Reception
Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 63% based on 166 reviews, with an average rating of 6.20/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Baby Mama is a lightweight, predictable comedy that ekes by on the strength of its performers." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Box office
In its opening weekend, Baby Mama grossed $17,407,110 in 2,543 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #1 at the box office and averaging $6,845 per theater. Baby Mama eventually grossed a total of $64,163,648. Its production budget was $30 million.