A seminal comedy in the literal sense alone, this sperm bank break-in caper is impotent stuff. Laughs—and there are a few here and there—are jerry-rigged. To stage a gag at that semen facility, writers Peter Gaulke and Gerry Swallow (co-writers of the sibling-incest comedy “Say It Isn’t So”) put an aggro security guard on duty, as if it were an abortion clinic encircled by extreme right-to-lifers. Ejaculating champagne fizz is far, far away from Frank Tashlin’s aroused milk bottles. Director Jay Chandrasekhar (“Super Troopers,” “Beerfest,” “The Dukes of Hazzard“) lends to “The Babymakers“ a dispiriting lack of timing. Puerile body panic can be much funnier than what Olivia Munn delivers as the unpregnant one and Paul Schneider deposits as her intended impregnator. With Kevin Heffernan, Wood Harris, Nat Faxon, Aisha Tyler, Collette Wolfe, Hayes MacArthur, Jay Chandrasekhar. 98m. (Bill Stamets)
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
Heart: A Review of Soul The real world is soulful, too, in Pixar's bountiful life of the mind.
Seeing The Elephant: A Review Of Babylon The boisterous, brawling yet melancholy "Babylon," is a variation on film history, but more drawing for drama. It's gaudy and mean, celebratory and sorrowful.
Uncanny Ally: A Review Of M3GAN "M3GAN" sells itself in its first handful of seconds in how it introduces the handiwork of roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams, "Get Out") and her present product, PurrPetual Petz from Funki.
Spawn Sacrifice: A Review Of The Creator "The Creator" is richly detailed, punchy, pulpy, punkish entertainment that still has highly serious subjects in mind, without growing didactic and with substantial heart.
A Drag Getting Old: A Review Of Indiana Jones 5 In the protracted opening couple of reels, a very young, computer-crafted Harrison Ford plays a younger cultural marauder who first encounters the dull MacGuffin of the title.
Fine Line: A Review Of Shortcomings It's a season for the comeuppance of a curmudgeon in Randall Park's smart, biting "Shortcomings," adapted by Adrian Tomine from his graphic novel of the same name.
A seminal comedy in the literal sense alone, this sperm bank break-in caper is impotent stuff. Laughs—and there are a few here and there—are jerry-rigged. To stage a gag at that semen facility, writers Peter Gaulke and Gerry Swallow (co-writers of the sibling-incest comedy “Say It Isn’t So”) put an aggro security guard on duty, as if it were an abortion clinic encircled by extreme right-to-lifers. Ejaculating champagne fizz is far, far away from Frank Tashlin’s aroused milk bottles. Director Jay Chandrasekhar (“Super Troopers,” “Beerfest,” “The Dukes of Hazzard“) lends to “The Babymakers“ a dispiriting lack of timing. Puerile body panic can be much funnier than what Olivia Munn delivers as the unpregnant one and Paul Schneider deposits as her intended impregnator. With Kevin Heffernan, Wood Harris, Nat Faxon, Aisha Tyler, Collette Wolfe, Hayes MacArthur, Jay Chandrasekhar. 98m. (Bill Stamets)
