By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1 cat
Director: Gillian Robespierre
Starring: David Cross | Gabe Liedman | Gaby Hoffmann | Jake Lacy | Jenny Slate | Polly Draper | Richard Kind
Country: united_states
Year: 2014
Running time: 84
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2910274/combined
Kyle says: “OBVIOUS CHILD is the title of a song by the great Paul Simon, with its pointed lyric ‘Why deny the obvious child?’ Why indeed? Donna (Jenny Slate) is a rising standup comic whose specialty is talking dirty and whose boyfriend discloses he has been sleeping with her friend. Max (Jake Lacy) is a hot Vermont boy who dresses well with a good job in the computer industry. They meet cute, crack wise, drink liquor, go home together, and have fun, which includes her accidental pregnancy. At
first I noticed an embarrassing disconnect between laughter in the club audience on film and the lack thereof in the theater, certainly all around where I was sitting. But gradually an audience obviously familiar with the low expectations nurtured by TV gave themselves over.
“Donna’s cleverness can be heard in lines like her initial comment on Max (‘He’s so Christian he’s like a Christmas tree!’) or her comment on the condom (‘I remember seeing a condom, but I don’t remember what it did.’). There is a Jeffrey Dahmer joke for good measure. Best of all is Donna’s tearful admission to her mother (Polly Draper) that she is pregnant, which draws the unexpected response’ Thank God! I thought you were going to tell me you’re moving to LA!’ After numerous contrived delays, Donna informs Max about the pregnancy during her club act, which on that occasion has an unaccustomed seriousness. On the morning of the scheduled abortion (Valentine’s Day of course), he appears with flowers to escort her to the clinic. Following the abortion, they snuggle on his apartment couch and decide to watch GONE WITH THE WIND on Netflix, presumably because 12 YEARS A SLAVE is not yet available.
“Yes, dear reader, this is a feel-good date-night rom-com laugh-fest abortion comedy. It is also a contemptible self- congratulatory movie about entitled white people who joke about the exigencies of their privileged lives. You would certainly not see the audience that filled the Walter Reade for DEAR WHITE PEOPLE at this one. I later encountered a colleague who inquired what I had thought of the film. Failing to temper my outrage, I started in with the invective and stopped; he looked surprised and said, ‘Oh, interesting, because that’s the anointed one.’ Perfect adjective. A24 jumped on it at Sundance. You can
see it at your local cineplex in June. 1 cat
“Seen Saturday, March 29, 2014, New Directors/New Films at the Walter Reade Theater, Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York.”