BABES (2024) review
written by: Ilana Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz
produced by: Ilana Glazer, Josh Rabinowitz, Susie Fox, Ashley Fox & Breean Pojunas
directed by: Pamela Adlon
rating: R (for sexual material, language throughout, and some drug use)
runtime: 109 min.
U.S. release date: May 17, 2024
As the poster says, “Babes” will be considered the “Bridesmaids of Babymaking,” and that’s fine considering screenwriters Ilana Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz had that classic in mind along with “Superbad.” Since both of those movies were produced by Judd Apatow, you might get the impression that this comedy, which finds actress Pamela Adlon making her feature-length debut, has the same tone and feel. Well, not exactly. This comedy isn’t going as hard on the raunch or pausing for laughs as much as those two movies. Instead, here’s an honest examination of pregnancy’s grossness; at its core, there’s a sweet, funny, and loving look at two female besties.
Yoga instructor Eden (Ilana Glazer) and her dentist pal Dawn (Michelle Buteau) have been friends since grade school and, for years, have kept each other in the loop. Well, mostly. Life has inevitably gotten in the way; finding distance and specific experiences have strained their bond. Dawn has moved to the Upper East Side of New York City, while Eden remains in her third-floor apartment in Astoria. Eden starts to feel the gap when Dawn adds another baby to the family she shares with her husband, Marty (Hassan Minhaj), making it almost impossible to fit into her friend’s busy life.
One night, hours after watching Dawn give birth to her second child, Eden meets Claude (an undeniably charming Stephan James) while eating sushi on the New York City subway. It’s an undeniable meet-cute that she’s unprepared for and winds up becoming a one-night stand. Yes, they have sex, but they also strike up an unexpected human connection, spending most of the evening lying in bed talking. In short, this means something that could turn into something for Eden.
When she never hears from this public transit dreamboat again, Eden assumes she’s been ghosted. She doesn’t dwell on that for too long since she is hit with the one-two punch of some shocking news: she’s pregnant, and the father is dead after tragically choking on an almond.
She wonders how this could be. After all, she was on her period at the time, and she thought there was no possible way to get pregnant while on your period. Dawn reminds her that they took the same sex education classes back in school, and that line of thinking was never confirmed. Clearly, Eden wasn’t paying attention that day.
Just as she has for everything else, Eden turns to Dawn as her only emotional support system as she chooses to have the baby. She’s hoping for Dawn’s reassurance that she can do this. However, Dawn isn’t very convincing as she agrees that Eden is up for single motherhood. She’s having her own crisis that Eden is oblivious to. Dawn struggles to adjust to life with two children and finds it difficult to return to work. Not to mention the expensive plumbing issue in their apartment. Despite wanting Dawn to share in her new journey of this new commitment and doctor’s appointments, Eden isn’t seeing their union play out precisely how she envisioned it.
As “Babes” starts, Dawn is the one who’s pregnant, and the movie establishes the tight friendship she has with Eden. The pair have this annual Thanksgiving Day tradition where they go see a movie and go out to eat together, which has become harder to maintain as years pass. Dawn is so uncomfortably pregnant that she doesn’t even realize how close she is to delivering, but she finds out hilariously that her water is breaking, well, dripping. The way the evening plays out is more realistic than how most movie labor and deliveries are shown on the big screen.
During this first act, Adlon establishes a welcome and refreshing balance of zany silliness and honest vulnerability. This may be her first feature, but Adlon has directed 44 episodes of her hit FX series, “Better Things,” which accounts for her assured hand at the helm here. It truly feels like Adlon and Glaser, as director and writer, respectively, are bringing their own real-life experiences of motherhood to the project – from problematic lactation to raging hormones – lending both authenticity and spontaneity to “Babes.”
That authenticity is perhaps best exemplified when Eden and Dawn have to have a challenging conversation. Although Eden has chosen her bestie to play the family member she doesn’t have, Dawn has domestic responsibilities that she’s barely holding on to. The two of them will have to find a way to be honest and open without hurting their feelings, which may be impossible.
Instead of getting too heavy, “Babes” sometimes veers into familiar sitcom territory. This is mainly found in how Dr. Morris (John Carroll Lynch) is written. He’s a gynecologist who’s patient with Eden’s questions and understandable nervousness, but every time we see him, he’s trying a different method of covering up his balding head. From a comb-over to hair plugs, the whole bit is drawn out and detracts from what a fully realized character Lynch can portray. Considering how the significant others in the movie, played by Hassan Minhaj and Stephan James, are portrayed as understanding and supportive men, it seems odd to have this doctor played for laughs.
Some of the bits played entirely for laughs in “Babe” work well, though, primarily because the comedy is so crazy that it lands just right. When Eden babysits Dawn’s eldest child, 4-year-old Tommy (played by newcomer Caleb Mermelstein-Knox), and makes the poor decision of letting him watch “The Omen” – as if the boy isn’t going to be disturbed after that.
The comedy that succeeds the most in “Babe” is the back-and-forth interaction between Eden and Dawn. Glaser and Buteau have a great rhythm together, working off each other effortlessly, using improv at times to convey a lived-in and convincing longstanding friendship. Adlon knows that Glaser has this undeniable playfulness on screen that’s simply contagious and gives her room to do her thing. At the same time, Buteau shows excellent range, deftly handling the silliness of her character’s dissolving mental state.
“Babes” is stuck between cartoon antics and real-world concerns, with Adlon never finding a true tone balance. There’s a push to be authentic about post-birth frustrations, finding Dawn struggling with lactation issues. It could be a fascinating study of physical and mental blockage, giving Buteau something to play with. However, the writing eventually tires of following the subplot, handing Dawn a battle with ancient NYC plumbing pipes that fill her house with fecal matter collected over hundreds of years.
Glaser and Rabinowitz miss out on delving into the absence of any biological family support for Eden. It’s explained away that her mother died when she was pretty young, and there’s a cameo appearance by Oliver Platt as her father, Bernie, that seems woefully unexplored. He admits to being an awful father to her and ultimately confirms that he still can’t be counted, yet he wishes her well and lets her know that he believes she can be a mother.
That being said, “Babes” is the first time I laughed this hard this year in a theater. Granted, there have not been that many comedies getting theatrical releases, with most going straight to streaming. That’s usually because so many of them just aren’t funny, but this one is hilarious and quite touching for the most part.
RATING: ***
