KINDA PREGNANT
Starring: Amy Schumer, Will Forte, Jillian Bell, Brianne Howey, Urzila Carlson, Chris Geere, Damon Wayans Jr., Alex Moffat, and Joel David Moore
Director: Tyler Spindel
AMARÚ
You know, I thought we were past taking all the ridiculous tropes of romantic comedies and making them R-rated fodder, but I guess Amy Schumer missed that memo. Almost everything about Kinda Pregnant is an unfunny copy of more intelligent rom-com scripts, right down to the not-trying-to-hide-it-in-any-way Rebel Wilson imitation. Will Forte, Damon Wayans Jr., and the few instances of genuine heart when discussing the realities of pregnancy are absolutely wasted in this unappealing “comedy.” There are two good laughs, though, so there’s that.
ROBERT
Given the contributors involved, my expectation was that Kinda Pregnant would be like another episode of Inside Amy Schumer. However, as a feature of Happy Madison Productions, it became pretty clear that it would fall more in line with an Adam Sandler romantic comedy: odd physical pratfalls; weird, overly involved background characters; and a lie that balloons to the size of a 20 pound turkey. When the film plays to its raunchiness and subversion of rom-com tropes, it's more successful, but it has a hard time letting itself be consistently different to be truly unique as a Netflix comedy.
BODE
It’s already questionable enough that Kinda Pregnant attempts to explore real issues surrounding motherhood (or the paradox of wanting to be a mom) through an exaggerated premise, but that could be forgiven if the humour connected, the characters felt real, and it was willingly subversive. Unfortunately, many of the jokes (save a few) fall flat, and there’s very little care regarding any kind of character development (especially the central friendship between Amy Schumer’s Lainy and Jillian Bell’s Kate). Plus, even with that premise, it’s as predictable, as low-energy, and as overly lit as streaming movies get. Feel free to skip it.
