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Obvious Child Movie Review

Obvious Child is a 2014 romantic comedy film directed by Gillian Robespierre and starring Jenny Slate and Jake Lacy. It’s a very tender, but familiar flick.

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“I did the first scream for screaming,

and then the second scream I had from

scaring myself from the first scream“

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Donna, a comedienne, develops an instant liking for and has a one-night stand with Max, a young man. However, her life turns upside down when she realizes that she is pregnant with his child. Jenny Slate is best known for her animated voiceover roles, so it was refreshing seeing her in a live-action role for once. And she was great at it.

The only issue that I’ve had with this movie lies in its humor. I often tend to not gravitate toward standup comedy as an art form. I find it to be hit-or-miss. Here, sadly, it was mostly a miss. It’s your typical example of female comedy that just consists of a woman comedian talking about her failed life and terrible choices in a disparaging way. It’s all rather familiar.

With that being said, Slate still managed to elevate this role due to her high charisma and charm. Jake Lacy was also quite charming here in a role that was the polar opposite of his villainous turn in the second season of ‘The White Lotus’. Here, he is kind and so likable. The two shared a romance that is so sweet that you root for them to be happy together.

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Obvious Child is technically quite muted as it is a low-budget indie flick, but the strength of the performances and solid characterization easily transcended all of its flaws. There is an abortion storyline here that is more of a subplot than the biggest story strand, but it mostly worked as Robespierre did not go fully political with it. It obviously verged into overly pro-choice territory, but it remained mostly neutral and empathetic throughout, which was a great choice.