Review of Obvious Child

Such a gentle, tender, heartwarming movie, about New Yorker Donna Stern (not a girl, but not yet a woman, cue Britney), who's in her late 20's, just broken up with, working in a bookstore during the day and doing stand-up at night. Jenny Slate invests her with surprising tenderness and pathos, making her a full, rounded character, regarding the world with trust and suspicion (watch that scene with David Cross as she watches him clumsily make move after move), trying to make the right decisions and correct the bad ones and sometimes failing, just trying to be true (which she, sometimes helplessly, can't help but be during her stand-up, hurting those close to her, but reaching something close to the purity of art). She's never a caricature, which is to the credit of Slate and writer/director Gillian Robespierre.

And then she gets Knocked Up. Which the film treats with respect and adult understanding, unlike "Knocked Up," which can't even mention the word "abortion." This is by far the most refreshing part of "Obvious Child" -- the characters never devolve into rom-com conventions, and their actions seems derived from an understanding of how real people interact.

And somehow Slate and Robespierre manage to make the whole thing funny, which just seems magical and miraculous.

Gaby Hoffmann deserves a shout-out as well, as the roommate/best friend.

Go see it on a first date (I did!), it'll really open up the conversation during dinner!