Otherwise known as the “abortion comedy” but that’s not really accurate. Yes, the main character—-a female comic played by Jenny Slate in a breakout performance—-does become accidentally pregnant, but that’s only one of the many subplots and winning things about this film. It’s more a gentle comedy about stumbling towards adulthood as it is an overtly political film.
What Works: It’s rare to see a comedy that’s surprising and realistic, charming and sporadically edgy. It keeps throwing you with spontaneous twists that feel lived in and character-based which isn’t an easy thing to pull off. Even without the film’s politics, there’s a lot to like and deep truths about contemporary relationships.
However, let’s not totally downplay how subtly daring it is to actually make a light-hearted, winning abortion comedy when even the hardest of R-rated yuk-fests (like the wildly overrated Knocked Up) barely even mention a trip to the abortion clinic as an option. Hollywood often sends out the message (in everything from Juno to any show that’s featured a convenient miscarriage) that they’re cool with abortions and women should be able to choose, but what they should choose is to keep it: “They’re totally free to choose…to keep their baby.” And if not that, then a character who has an abortion will be punished with some horrible comeuppance, either psychologically tormented or receiving punitive karma. The film’s sunny ending not only feels more satisfying, but also more honest.
What Doesn’t: If the film’s sunnier outlook affects anything for the worse, it might be the male lead played by Jake Lacy. He’s a winning actor, but the character he’s asked to play is too good to be true. He’s such a generically “good” guy, that you wish he’d been given a little bit more to do than be supportive.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Not much.