Review of Obvious Child (2014) by Kevin K — 27 May 2014

I laughed and was drawn near tears by this piece. I understand the contrast between real life and humor to be the place where meaningful comedy is at its best, but I was turned off by the attempt at making abortion seem like an answer that goes unquestioned. Had there been any hint of a balance to the discussion, I would have been able to put the issue to the side and enjoy the mediocre comedy that carried the movie. It just seemed that a character who has no hesitation about getting an abortion suddenly was surrounded by other people who had them done as if they were getting their nails done. I hate to rank a movie down based on subject matter, so understand that this one lost stars in my book due to how it handled a subject rather than what subject was handled, and with being sadly unfunny more often than it wasn't.

I will give Jenny Slate credit for being a very approachable and believable character, and for showing that she has more range than how she seems to have become typecast in previous roles. Jake Lacy was perfect in his role, and couldn't have been better cast by another actor. Sadly, near perfect casting is not enough to save this movie from its endless parade of bodily function jokes and poorly handled sensitive subject matter. I left the theater sad and unwilling to watch this one again.