Obvious Child

Director: Gillian Robespierre Gillian Robespierre

Overview

Adapted from Gillian Robespierre's own short film of the same name, Obvious Child stars Jenny Slate as Donna Stern, an aspiring standup comic in her late twenties who regularly performs at a Brooklyn bar on open-mic nights when there's no cover charge. As the story opens, Donna gets dumped by her boyfriend (supposedly for talking about their relationship too much in her act) and loses her day job at a bookstore that's being evicted by the owner of the building. Not long after, during a night of epic drinking, she meets Max (Jake Lacy). The two hit it off and enjoy a drunken one-night stand, which Donna slinks away from in the morning. eeks later, Donna discovers she's pregnant. Knowing she's in no way ready to be a mother, she decides to have an abortion. She tries repeatedly to tell Max what is happening, but keeps chickening out -- in part because he's such a nice guy.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/07/2014
UPC:	0031398200680
Original Release:	2014
Rating:	R
Source:	LIONSGATE - 600000-AEC LGE
Language:	English
Time:	1:24:00
Sales rank:	55,211

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jenny Slate	Donna Stern
Jake Lacy	Max
Gabe Liedman	Joey
Richard Kind	Jacob Stern
Polly Draper	Nancy Stern
Paul Briganti	Ryan
Cindy Cheung	Dr. Bernard
Stephen Singer	Gene
Rene Alexandre	Bar Patron
Suzanne Lenz	Female #2
Crystal Lonneberg	Bartender
Cyrus McQueen	Comedian
Ernest Mingione	Waiter
Amy Novondo	Bar Patron
Emily Tremaine	Lacey
Julie Zimmer	Woman in Bar
Gaby Hoffmann	Nellie
David Cross	Sam
Chris Bordeaux	Composer

Technical Credits

Gillian Robespierre

Gillian Robespierre	Director,Screenwriter,Executive Producer
Elisabeth Holm	Producer
Michael Sackler	Executive Producer
Sophie Vickers	Executive Producer
Julia Godzinskaya	Executive Producer
Brent Stiefel	Executive Producer
Stefan Nowicki	Executive Producer
Jenny Slate	Executive Producer
Jessica Kelly	Casting
Geoffrey Quan	Production Manager
Jacob A. Gragard	Sound Editor
David Kaplan	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

A romantic comedy that starts with an unwanted pregnancy, Gillian Robespierre's Obvious Child begs comparison with Knocked Up. However, while the word "abortion" wasn't uttered once in Judd Apatow's movie, Robespierre's lead character quickly decides to end her pregnancy and never wavers. It's easy to give the picture credit for dealing with such verboten subject matter, but by placing it within the context of a conventional romantic comedy, it comes off as slightly more flippant than the filmmakers probably intend. Adapted from Robespierre's own short film of the same name, the movie stars Jenny Slate as Donna Stern, an aspiring standup comic in her late twenties who regularly performs at a Brooklyn bar on open-mic nights when there's no cover charge. As the story opens, Donna gets dumped by her boyfriend (supposedly for talking about their relationship too much in her act) and loses her day job at a bookstore that's being evicted by the owner of the building. Not long after, during a night of epic drinking, she meets Max (Jake Lacy). The two hit it off and enjoy a drunken one-night stand, which Donna slinks away from in the morning. Weeks later, Donna discovers she's pregnant. Knowing she's in no way ready to be a mother, she decides to have an abortion. She tries repeatedly to tell Max what is happening, but keeps chickening out -- in part because he's such a nice guy. Slate is solid as Donna, letting the character's crassness and sweetness crash into each other. It's easy to imagine that she wanted to be a comedian because adults patted her on the head and told her she was adorable whenever she said anything inappropriate. Lacy plays the exceedingly decent Max without condescension. Gaby Hoffmann is appealing as Donna's straight-talking best friend, Richard Kind and Polly Draper are effective as her parents, and David Cross shows up for an extended cameo as a more successful comic who tries to seduce Donna. Cross and Slate's scenes together feel like an apology by both of them for appearing in Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. They provide the funniest moments in the picture, if you don't count the one-night-stand sex scene that's scored to an underrated Paul Simon song for no other reason than it has the same title as the film. The nagging problem about this movie is the lack of dramatic tension; there just isn't much momentum. Donna never hesitates in her decision, so the plot isn't about abortion so much as her growing up and dealing with what the procedure means for her various relationships. Sadly, the conflict there is almost nonexistent. She has great, supportive parents, a flawless best friend, and the romantic attention of a nice young man. Because of the by-the-numbers rom-com arc of Donna and Max's relationship, her inability to tell him about the pregnancy feels less like genuine human behavior and more like a plot contrivance to stretch this film to feature length. We just wait for her to finally fill him in on what's going on, and there's no doubt what his reaction is going to be. Since the movie takes a calm look at such a polarizing topic, there will be some who champion Obvious Child simply because it exists. But as a rom-com, it's so safe and unchallenging that it won't stick in your brain long enough for the message to matter.