Kate Holbrook is a successful, single professional at the top of her game. The newest vice president for a chain of organic grocery stores, she has it all. Well, almost all. What she doesn’t have is a baby. The biological clock ticking loudly in her ears soon becomes something of an obsession. Discouragingly, her doctor tells her that it’s unlikely she can become pregnant.

After exploring her options, Kate resolves to hire Angie to bear a child for her. Kate’s action plan for pregnancy is on track and looking good when her surrogate mother suddenly appears at her door needing a place to stay. The resulting chaos throws the strait-laced Holbrook into a tailspin with much ensuing hilarity in Baby Mama.

First, a confession: I like to see a movie I’m going to review without knowing much about it. I try to be as unbiased as I can be, but sometimes that’s just not possible. In this case I’d seen the trailer for Baby Mama and wasn’t very impressed. Frankly, even the title of the film grates on me like screeching fingernails on a chalkboard. Thus you can imagine how I wasn’t very excited as a dragged myself into the theater to see this one. I was sure I was in for a miserable experience.

Simply put, I was wrong.

Starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as Kate and Angie, Baby Mama is something of a Saturday Night Live reunion. In addition to Fey and Poehler, SNL’s Lorne Michaels co-produced, and SNL veteran writer/director Michael McCullers is also included. Joining in the fun and frolic of the “SNL reunion” are Greg Kinnear, Sigourney Weaver, and Dax Shepard, who turn in equally entertaining and excellent performances. Also, watch for a hysterical Steve Martin in an extended cameo, and Romany Malco in a small but very funny role as Oscar the doorman.

Most of the laughs here come from the collision of Kate’s highly organized, organic life with slacker Angie’s junk food lifestyle. Think of it as a feminine version of The Odd Couple and you won’t be far off the mark. Fey and Poehler carry the film easily with backup from a supporting cast that is uniformly excellent across the board.

I think the main reason Baby Mama works for me as well as it does is that the humor never comes across as mean-spirited. While it has its rude, crude moments, I never felt it was gratuitous or thrown in for shock effect. Not all of the jokes work, but in general it’s consistently witty and funny. Toss in a romantic sub-plot and a feel-good ending, and it’s a great prescription for cinematic escapism.

It would be easy to classify Baby Mama as a “chick flick,” but I think guys will enjoy this one, too. If you’re looking for a good movie to relax and laugh with this weekend, give this one a shot. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Baby Mama is rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language and a drug reference. I consider this rating pretty accurate.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Michael attended a promotional screening of Baby Mama.