“Obvious Child” is an indie romantic comedy first showcased at this year’s South by Southwest and Sundance Film Festivals. Jenny Slate, who spent a season (’09-’10) on “Saturday Night Live”, stars in this adaptation of a short film she and director Gillian Robespierre made back in 2009.
The plot of “Obvious Child” is very straightforward. Slate’s Donna is a twenty-something struggling stand-up comedienne living in New York City who is dumped by her longtime boyfriend. Donna has a hard time with the break-up and this effects her performing, which she believes is the one element that makes her stand-out in life. But soon she meets a new guy and becomes involved in an eventful and potentially regretful evening. This leads the film in a direction that many will have a tough time dealing with and a subject matter that’s not typical for a rom-com. It can be difficult to ease-into a movie that attempts to mix humor with a highly controversial topic unless it’s done well, and here it is not.
“Obvious Child” has two major problems: #1 – It’s simply not funny. The first twenty minutes, which consists mostly of Donna’s stand-up act, is filled with raunchy, scattered and profane observations about bodily functions and her personal experiences. It’s tough to sit through. And the material never gets better. #2 – The story just isn’t believable. There are too many scenes that go way over-the-top, are purely based on coincidence and cliches, and would never happen in real life.
Slate becomes more likeable as the film goes on, though her character does not. Jake Lacy (who co-starred on the final season of “The Office”) plays Donna’s new love interest but the script doesn’t provide the couple with nearly enough dimensional layers, especially considering the situation they’re forced to deal with. Richard Kind pops-up briefly as Donna’s father. And David Cross plays a comedy writer who appears merely as a five-minute, add-on distraction to bump-up a relatively short runtime of only 85 minutes.
“Obvious Child” is rated R for crude language and heavy adult content. Off the positive festival buzz, this had the potential to be the indie comedy sleeper hit of the summer. But a weak script, few winning and authentic moments, and an overall lack of courage to truly deal with its subject matter are all clear reasons why it won’t be.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Obvious Child” gets a D+.