de facto film reviews 3 stars

One of the most refreshing things you realize about Babes is the humor and wit sprinkled with tropes of a buddy movie and cleverly crude humor on relationships, sex, and the truths pregnancy has on women’s bodies that so many movies brush over. It’s a joy to watch, and co-writer, producer, and co-star Ilana Glazer shows great talent as a storyteller with her writing and comedic execution from her standup background. Likewise, her co-star and comedic counterpart Michelle Buteau (who is also a stand-up comedian) also delivers hilarity and emotional depth to her character, and these two actresses that play besties that deal with pregnancy and motherhood echo other amusing comedies about pregnancy like Juno and Knocked Up. Although the gaze is more female-driven, director Pamela Adion brings an emotional truth that plays a great ode to friendship and motherhood. The on-screen chemistry between Buteau and Glazer is memorable and on par with other great female duos like Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, Lisa Kudrow and Mina Sorvino in Romy and Michel’s High School Reunion, as well as the trio of Kristen Wig, Maya Rudolph, and Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids.

On the surface, Babes might feel like another broad comedy with its conventional plotting and familiar character and story arcs, and in many ways, it also echoes the work of Nicole Holofcener, except it’s a lot rowdier, the characters aren’t as privileged or pompous, but they are middle-class, and it will be easier for working-class mothers, both single and married, to connect emotionally to these characters lives.

Babes

Courtesy Neon

Glazer stars as Eden, a yoga instructor in her mid-30s who is always there for her best friend Daw (Buteau); she was even there when her water broke when they were at their Thanksgiving morning movie ritual. In a very hilarious gag, Daw complains about how every seat feels wet, and sure enough, her water breaks, but it’s in small drops and doesn’t pour out like the movies exaggerate. Daw has a healthy second child, and she has a great husband who is very supportive and caring, named Marty (Hasan Minhaj, from the Daily Show). Eden is single herself; she yearns for a relationship and motherhood herself, and during the evening of Daw’s labor, Eden decides to treat Daw and Marty to sushi dinner, but when she goes back to the hospital with the food, she isn’t allowed in because it’s past visiting hours. Eden ends up taking the nearly $500 sushi takeout order on the subway home and even eating one of the entries on the subway, which grosses one of the passengers out on the train. Eden hilariously offers to share a very comical gag.

Eden ends up encountering a very nice man on the delayed train ride home who is dressed like a hotel bellhop who just wrapped up his dialogue scene in a Martin Scorsese movie. The two share the sushi, have thoughtful discussions, and have some flirtatious exchanges where they both admit they never had unprotected sex. They even go to the same local clinic for routine checkups, which is managed by a pair of twins (Keith Lucas and Kenneth Lucas). They end up going home together, and they have a one-night stand together unprotected, and Eden says she is on her period and is assured she won’t get pregnant.

Sure enough, Eden ends up getting pregnant, and Daw, in a hilarious exchange, informs her that everything they learned about female pregnancy in school wasn’t correct. Eden ends up carrying through with the pregnancy. She bonds deeper with Daw, who ends up having her own anxieties and some shades of postpartum depression where she misses her children when she is at work, only to wish she was out of the house for a breather when she is at home. Their friendship gets tested though once Eden shows Daw’s first child the original “Omen” movie, which leads to him scaring the nanny off after he draws satanic symbols on the wall.

Babes (2024)

Courtesy Neon

Which leads Eden to bond with her part-time father (Oliver Platt), who she labels a deadbeat earlier in the film, and he admits he wasn’t the best father in a very moving scene, and director Pamela Adlon elevates many of the characters out of ridicule purposes. She keeps the narrative brisk, generating belly laughs and hysterical visual gags, and the delivers some earned emotional payoffs that work at the same time. Hopefully this bawdy film finds its audience and lets be hopeful that Lana Glazer and Michelle Buteau share the screen again because they deserve to be in a lot more comedies together.

BABES is now playing in limited theaters and opens wider, including Metro Detroit on Friday May 24th.