Sam and Lucy Bell, Hugh Laurie and Joely Richardson, want desperately to have a baby. Sam is a commissioning editor at the BBC, and Lucy works at a talent agency, but a lot of their time is spent trying to get Lucy pregnant. Demoted by an arrogant new boss, and relagated to producing a kiddies` programme, Sam`s in urgent need of material for a new drama - he gets the idea of writing a comedy based on his own, and Lucy`s, experiences - but he doesn`t get round to telling her.. Ben Elton`s foray into feature film direction is a frequently hilarious comedy, which is sometimes deliberately painful, at others a bit repetitive. There`s plenty of well observed and very funny jibes at the British film and TV industry and some wonderful characters - a vain, arrogant Scottish film director, amusingly played by Tom Hollander, a vain, sexy actor, played by James Purefoy, who joins the talent agency and who gets cast in Sam`s script, while taking his place in Lucy`s affections. In one of many cameo roles, Rowan Atkinson is very funny as every woman`s nightmare gynaecologist. Hugh Laurie, in a Hugh Grant-ish kind of role, is very good, and Joely Richardson is, once again, delightful. I had a really good time with this unpretentious, very British comedy. Margaret`s Comments:This terribly self-congratulatory work is embarrassingly adolescent in its attempts at humour. Dialogue and performances are overcooked to a self-consciousness rarely seen in modern cinema. Considering the real pain involved in not being able to conceive a child and going through the process of IVF I found this film rather tasteless as well. And considering the talent involved Maybe Baby, although ostensibly meant to be a comedy, is actually tragic. Joely Richardson can give charming performances, here she`s irritatingly twee. Hugh Laurie tries to retain a stiff upper lip about the whole thing but never manages to convince us he`s in anything other than a television skit. Casting Rowan Atkinson as a slavering obstetrician is merely another example of writer/director Ben Elton`s lack of judgement. And Dawn French as a coarse Australian nurse! For a first film from a comic talent like Elton this is a major disappointment.
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