Movie Review - Obvious Child

Obvious Child (2014)

Starring Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann, Gabe Liedman, Richard Kind, Polly Draper, and David Cross

Directed by Gillian Robespierre  

***This film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime***

Quite frankly, more so than probably any other movie released in 2014, Obvious Child was not made for me.  I'm not one that can find humor in a young stand-up comic going on stage and doing a set where she tries to derive humor from the fact that she's getting an abortion the next day.  I won't sit here and say I was offended (because I wasn't because quite frankly very little Hollywood does could offend me nowadays), but I did find the film a bit disturbing in the way it attempts to bring humor to such a situation.

Jenny Slate is Donna, a twenty something gal who, after being dumped by her long-time boyfriend, has a one night stand with Max (Jake Lacy) which results in her getting pregnant.  Without a steady job (her stand-up comedy side gigs don't bring in much income) and having just been told that her cheap apartment is being taken away from her, there's no second guessing as to what Jenny is going to do -- an abortion is to be had.

I give writer-director Gillian Robespierre credit for having the cojones to make a film so bluntly pro-abortion, but from a comedy standpoint, the humor didn't fly for me here.  I laughed out loud once or twice and Slate actually has a presence that's oddly charming in a rough-around-the-edges kind of way, but the subject matter here is such a turn-off to me that I doubt I was ever going to enjoy this one.  When I watch movies, I try my best to separate my political and moral views from what I'm watching onscreen and I think I'm damn good at it.  However, I can't find humor in the subject of abortion.  It's simply not going to fly with me.  Seeing a mother and daughter waxing fondly over the mother's tale about an abortion she had in the sixties is nothing short of unsettling for me when placed in a humorous context.

Once again, credit for being ballsy enough to appeal to the liberal mindset with this one (and the media naturally fawned over it upon its release), but this one just didn't fly with me when it comes to the comedic boundaries it's pushing.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-