BABY MAMA (Rated PG-13)

There’s a new chick-flick at the local Cineplex where the action is set in Philadelphia, as in Pennsylvania’s major city. Merely coincidental, the film arrives on the heels of that state’s big primary, but Hillary Clinton is nowhere to be found in a venue that still suggests “Rocky.” Rather, this comedic adventure is called “Baby Mama,” starring two female stars of “Saturday Night Live.”

Now, I have to admit, sheepishly, that I laughed at many of the jokes in this female-oriented comedy. As a result, I have scheduled a doctor’s appointment to have my testosterone levels checked, just in case I am precipitously on the verge on some inexplicable male menopausal meltdown. At least I am not crying during soap operas, mainly because I don’t watch any.

Perched for a long time as a cast member and co-anchor of “Weekend Update” on “Saturday Night Live,” Tina Fey has made her mark in another comedy series on NBC, while Amy Poehler continues on for a seventh season in the late night weekly comedy show. Together, Fey and Poehler have great chemistry as an odd couple as mismatched as Oscar and Felix. Fey’s Kate Holbrook is a career-driven executive at an organic market chain.

Financially secure, she lives in a swank Philadelphia apartment that reflects her fastidious nature. Having put her personal life on the back burner, the unmarried Kate suddenly realizes her biological clock is ticking. After visiting several sperm banks, Kate discovers that she is infertile, and therefore, decides to visit the surrogacy center run by Chaffee Bicknell (Sigourney Weaver).

The solution for her wish to have a child is realized by the availability of Angie Ostrowiski (Amy Poehler) to become the surrogate mom. Free-spirited Angie is the suburban Philly equivalent of trailer park trash. When interviewing for the surrogate position, Angie shows up with her equally trashy common-law husband Carl (Dax Shepard), a deadbeat who’s anxious to take advantage of Kate’s generous cash offer for services rendered.

Angie is hardly the ideal candidate for motherhood, as she indulges in activities that should be off limits, such as smoking, drinking and eating junk food while watching the worst of daytime TV. Angie is one fistfight away from being a guest on the “Jerry Springer Show.”

Entering the nesting mode, Kate buys all the appropriate child-care books and childbirth DVDs, enrolling herself and Angie in a birthing class. But Kate is consumed with her work schedule, which includes satisfying the desires of her New Age hippie boss Barry (Steve Martin, in a hilarious role) to open a flagship store in an area ripe for gentrification.

Yet, Kate’s plans for a perfect pregnancy are turned upside down when Angie leaves Carl and moves into Kate’s apartment, seeing that she has no money or place to live. Now that they have to share the tight quarters of an apartment, it is inevitable that the friction between two very dissimilar characters will erupt into pandemonium.

While wiseguy doorman Oscar (Romany Malco) watches with bemusement, the comings and goings of the anxious mother-to-be and the flighty surrogate create a real sideshow. Though Angie is given to many bottom-feeding tendencies, including the inappropriate use of a bathroom sink, Kate begins the inevitable mellowing process, which soon has her taking up a romantic interest in local smoothies bar owner Rob (Greg Kinnear), an erstwhile lawyer who is consumed with an unnatural bitterness towards big competitor Jamba Juice.

Even guys will detect the predictable plot twists of female rivalry that runs rampant through “Baby Mama,” but still there is a good deal of enjoyable humor, mainly due to the wisecracks and banter between the leading ladies. “Baby Mama” employs plenty of broad gags, delivering a tidy sense of comedic convenience that won’t leave a lasting impression. At the bottom line, it’s fun but not a must-see comedy.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

I think there’s a whole new industry churning out horror films from the Far East, and not just Hong Kong. But if it weren’t for DVDs, we’d probably not even know about gruesome cinema from Thailand.

The latest to hit our shores is the aptly-named “Sick Nurses,” a gory, violent film set in the hallways of a run-down Bangkok hospital.

“Sick Nurses” follows a clandestine team of nurses and a chief surgeon who sell human body parts and whole bodies on the black market for a profit.

When one of the nurses threatens to expose the operation, she is instantly attacked, killed and wrapped in a body bag to be sold by her cohorts.

A bloodthirsty spirit, she emerges from the dead seeking revenge for her untimely death, attacking each victim and forcing them to perform violent acts against themselves and others.

I hope someone will release an anniversary version of “The Sound of Music,” if only to balance the equation.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

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