Cr. Scott Yamano/Netflix © 2024.
From Happy Madison & It’s So Easy Productions, Kinda Pregnant brings actor/comedian Amy Schumer back to film leading lady status for the first time since 2018’s I Feel Pretty. However, it’s hardly a comeback for Schumer as she has been hard at work since then as she’s written & performed multiple comedy specials, created & starred in Hulu’s Life After Beth, brought back Inside Amy Schumer for a 5 episode run in 2022, & co-starred in several films including The Humans, Bros, & Netflix’s Unfrosted. She also became a mother in 2019, which was well documented in the miniseries Expecting Amy released on HBO Max in 2020.
This new film, co-written & co-produced by Schumer, centers on pregnancy and motherhood as well (kinda) with Amy’s character Lainy finding herself desperate & jealous as a woman in her 40s who’s wanted a family of her own since childhood.
After her 4-year relationship ends in embarrassment & frustration and her best friend Kate (Workaholics star Jillian Bell) gets pregnant before her, Lainy just can’t take much more. Seeing the positive attention pregnant women get, she straps on a “sympathy bump” she stole from a maternity store and heads out into the world posing as an actual pregnant woman. However, as she goes more and more places and meets more and more people, the lie starts to snowball into something she can’t control. A new pregnant friend (Ginny & Georgia breakout Brianne Howey) and a new man in her life (SNL’s Will Forte) lead to anxiety when her “pregnant” life and her real life collide.
Directed by frequent Happy Madison comedy creator Tyler Spindel (The Wrong Missy, Father of the Year), Kinda Pregnant feels kinda half-baked & kinda unfocused but less than kinda funny. Even if the ultra-thin conceit of a “middle-aged woman without any family (Dead parents? Alcoholic parent? The movie barely cares so why should I?) gets jealous of pregnant women around her and pretends to be pregnant for attention”, the film gets caught in the middle of wanting to be outlandish & funny AND talking frankly & seriously about what it’s like to be a pregnant woman. However, the laughs are very few and the conversations about real women issues are given to our duplicitous protagonist who seems to not learn anything from before the film concludes.
A perfect example of the wild tone shifts in the film occurs when fake pregnant Lainy arrives at her new real pregnant friend Megan’s house for dinner. With Megan’s first child Connor running around with a knife (you know kids), Lainy is stabbed in her baby bump (one of the rare times I laughed). Then, after Megan talks about real pregnancy issues, her husband comes into the conversation and admits to being a recovering alcoholic with the guidance of Jada Pinkett Smith’s “Red Table Talks” and a former “mean drunk”. Lainey also admits to having an alcoholic parent, but no follow-up to that nugget will ever be uttered again. Will Forte’s Josh – Lainey’s love interest & Megan’s brother (What a coincidence!) – enters. After a brief “weren’t you not pregnant when I saw you last?” catch-up, Lainey accidentally catches her baby bump on fire and belly flops on the ground. After the commotion ensues, Megan’s husband says fuck it to 10 years of sobriety, chugs from a bottle of wine, & screams like the Hulk like he’d be instantly a mean drunk after one big gulp. I am glad he’s so sensitive to his guest’s injury in his home & respects her sensitivity to alcoholism. Finally, to end the scene, Lainey is in the bathroom with Megan while Megan opens up about the isolation of being a mom, the trauma & near-death of birth, AND post-partum depression in one of the more dramatic moments of the whole film. A rollercoaster of baffling jokes and meaningful dialogue on pregnancy & birth that gets lost as we move to the next joke or something that doesn’t seem to affect Lainey long-term as she isn’t actually pregnant and isn’t around for this friend’s new birth. Cool.
Picture: SCOTT YAMANO/NETFLIX
While the tone of the film is certainly an issue, what may be the biggest issue is Schumer’s lack of chemistry & connection with any major character in her orbit. Everything is on the surface or a deception. We learn nothing from her past relationship with Dave (Damon Wayans Jr.) except that she wanted a family and he wanted more women in their bed. This was a 4 YEAR RELATIONSHIP. Her friendship with her best friend Kate immediately gets derailed out of jealousy and never really crystallizes their 30+ year friendship in any real way. They both had no moms growing up and Kate is pregnant (that’s probably hard to deal with). She complains that her husband isn’t that into being a dad and Lainey doesn’t seem to do anything to help her. Her new friendship with Megan? One-sided & deceiving. She says really intimate things that Lainey can’t relate to and barely has any meaningful responses in return.
Most importantly, Schumer & Will Forte feel so forced as a couple. It’s always awkward banter even when they’ve been around each other for months. The intimacy is either kissing that doesn’t feel authentic or a sex scene played for laughs because of the fake pregnancy. The ending is predicated on their success and it clearly falls flat.
For those of you with reservations to watch this movie on a date night or possibly even the upcoming Valentine’s evening, you may want to reconsider. With a movie that feels stuck between genres & messaging, it’s hard to recommend; the romance feels strained, the comedy works in very small doses, every man in the film is made out to be a douche or a loser, & the welcomed commentary about pregnancy/birth/motherhood is ultimately not pivotal to the plot of the film or the growth of the protagonist. It’s hard to have much of a takeaway from the film besides “don’t fake a pregnancy” or “work on your mental health before entering into any meaningful relationships”. Schumer’s Lainey has no repercussions to her behavior and GAINS new relationships from her insane, selfish idea. What a picture.
Schumer may have wanted this film to kick off more lead acting roles in her future, but that doesn’t feel like the case. The heights of Trainwreck & Inside Amy Schumer definitely feel like her talent can bring her back in the fold, but Kinda Pregnant misses the mark too far to make that reality sooner rather than later.
Watch Kinda Pregnant If You Like
- I Feel Pretty
- Snatched
- Inside Amy Schumer
- Babes
- Baby Mama
MVP of Kinda Pregnant
Brianne Howey as Megan Taylor
Kinda Pregnant. (Featured Center L to R) Brianne Howey as Megan and Amy Schumer as Lainy in Kinda Pregnant. Cr. Scott Yamano/Netflix © 2024.
While many people may not come to an Amy Schumer fake pregnancy comedy for the more grounded & rational characters, I would make an exception in the case of Brianne Howey as Megan in Kinda Pregnant.
Howey’s performance paints the picture of the reality of motherhood, (real) pregnancy, & the fears of childbirth. She discusses everything from day-to-day body discomforts & hormone swings to heavier issues like the trauma of birth stories and the silent depression & isolation of being a mom. She gives the film a dose of reality and an emotional depth that remains valid despite some troubles with execution or outside character development.
Kinda Pregnant feels kinda lost. Tonally inconsistent, characters lacking growth or chemistry, and a simple shortage of standout jokes makes for a disappointing return for Schumer as a lead movie actress.
Rating: R
