Review of Obvious Child (2014) by Randy C — 16 Sep 2018

It comes with a big asterisk..

Obvious Child.

Obvious Child is a character driven comic drama about a stand up artist being choked up by the society as she fumbles on personal and professional life.

Unfortunately, it isn't as funny as the makers think, none of its fatal attempt works; the dull one-liners, cheap jokes, ironical and amusing characteristics, the stand-up acts and sketchy sequences. Not only is the concept overridden multiple times, its intake and perspective too is rudimentary with a familiar structure and seen-this-seen-that conflicts and so is its solution.

The background score clearly isn't working in here along with its typical cinematography and daft camera work and why-such editing. Slate's performance might be appreciative and even worth applauding at times, but it isn't gullible enough to fuel an entire feature especially of such storytelling.

Yes, it's just an episode of one's mundane life, but it ought to be presented in a way that it offers you the cinematic experience for it reeks like a season finale of some sitcom throughout the course of the feature; even at its peak, it is mediocrity. The side characters are like nightmares in here they never factors in, as anticipated nor leaves the impactful impression, in fact if anything it works like an anchor.

Robespierre's execution is decent enough to pull of a feature above distinction but it comes with a big asterisk, which is that it must have substance of that caliber. She also wants to make it happen and that is a good spirit to have, but she doesn't have anything to grasp that light, it's all dust. Few one-liners, short runtime that keeps the audience invested and doesn't leave them exhausted and, Slate's promising performance are the high points of the feature.

Obvious Child is definitely obvious and definitely a child, it doesn't want to go to school, it makes excuses, it doesn't take itself seriously.