Title: Obvious Child
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Gillian Robespierre
Starring: Jenny Slate, Gabby Hoffman, Jake Lacy
Runtime: 1 hr 23 mins

What It Is: New Yorker and comedienne Donna Stern (Slate) just got dumped by her boyfriend Joey, who is a douchey hipster fella. Distraught and heavily drunk Donna hooks up with Max who she knows nothing about. The two lemme steal a quote here “rub body parts” after a drunken dance party which we are privy to they decide that perhaps one night was enough. Here’s the issue this mess of a woman Donna got pregnant at the dance party. She decides to have an abortion, you can feel about that however you’d like. Likewise she’s trying to figure out her next move and navigate through this thing we call life.

What We Think: Slate is super likable as Donna, there a cameo from the awesome David Cross and the film is breezy with it’s 83 minute runtime. However it’s pro-choice, feminist message is perhaps too abundant and it ends up as preachy and pretentious in that regard instead of keeping it’s tongue in cheek, fun and funny pace. Gabby Hoffman’s Nellie isn’t really likable and Max feels like a cardboard character. Even after we sorta get to know him along with Donna we really don’t care too much about him.

Our Grade: C+, It’s a really funny film in parts, particularly when Slate gets to do a little standup. I mentioned earlier that Hoffman’s Nellie was not a great character, well that is true, but she also has one of the best lines in the film…I won’t spoil it here. Just watch the film. It’s a good indie flick with some good but not great performances. IF this is how Jenny Slate wanted to launch herself I believe in that regard it worked. It showed how funny she is but she played Donna with enough vulnerability that you could get invested in her. Fun fact the films title is a reference to a song from Paul Simon of Simon & Garfunkel.