"Obvious Child" opens up with Donna Stern (Jenny Slate) delivering a stand-up performance. Donna is not delivering the token "What's up with airline food?" stand-up. Instead, her act deals more with how she desperately wants to fart when her boyfriend is around but knows that she shouldn't. Her act veers into the somewhat unfunny realm of how she is having problems in her relationship. Her boyfriend, stands uncomfortably in the audience, waiting until after the set to let her know that he is leaving her. He is upset about how vocal she has been about their relationship and it has driven him away. "Obvious Child" deals with a woman in her late 20s who isn't fully an adult yet. She feels completely comfortable talking about vaginal secretions but when she steps off the stage she hides away from everyone. Donna hasn't learned how to talk to people about serious events or really how to live an adult life. In "Obvious Child" she is being forced into full adulthood very quickly and it propels her to finally become the woman she was meant to be.
Shaken by her break-up, Donna decides to drink. Hard. During this night, she comes across Max (Jake Lacy). Max is friendly, decently charming, and in very close proximity to Donna and her drinks. The two hit it off and it results in a one night stand. Almost two months later, Donna discovers that she is pregnant. She decides that an abortion is in order. The only available date: Valentine's Day. Donna has weeks to decide how or if to break the information to her family or Max.
"Obvious Child", much like last year's "Frances Ha", is about a late 20s woman in New York (in this case Brooklyn) who is finally discovering what it means to be an adult. Whereas Frances from "Frances Ha" was more aloof to her immaturity, Donna from "Obvious Child" is simply repressing it. She knows what she wants to do. She knows she wants to reach out to her parents and tell them how she is feeling. She knows that she would feel better if she told Max about the upcoming abortion. Donna decides to do none of these things. She spends her days at her job at a bookstore that is going to be going-out-of-business soon. There is one moment where she is just sitting in one of the moving boxes. Donna is actively stopping progress from happening. She is blocking the change (the closing of the store) from occurring. While it isn't necessarily deep, it is a good visual representation of what her character is going through.
The romantic comedy genre has been pronounced dead for years now. "Obvious Child" comes the closest we have seen in a competent comedy with romantic touches. This isn't a movie with "meet cutes". Donna and Max are just at the same bar at the same time. It isn't "love at first site". It is simply "lust by proximity". Throughout the movie there are slight romantic touches which are almost exclusively rejected by Donna. This is probably the only "romantic comedy" that can be produced in today's film market without being a saccharine rehash of things we have already seen. For that (and so much more), "Obvious Child" needs to championed.
Jenny Slate delivers a great and surprisingly deep performance. Her character is introduced delivering somewhat sophomoric comedy that relies more on shock than it does in substance. Donna could have easily just been a character who is vulgar and in the end finds "true love". That isn't what this is. Slate's Donna changes from the stage to the streets. Her voice and demeanor changes. She becomes shy and reserved. Gone is the girl who will talk about anything on stage. She is replaced by a woman who can't strike up the courage to talk to her ex-boyfriend. The last act has Slate delivering some wonderful dramatic moments. We know this isn't easy for Donna but we know she is making her way through this rough patch. It would be great if Slate's wonderful performance was remembered come Oscar season. It is the kind of performance that surprises you and pulls you in completely. At the very least, hopefully this puts her on the radar of other pictures and we see more of her.
If there is any complaint to be had about "Obvious Child" is that it is a little slight. It runs a tight 86 minutes but could have used one section excised. One scene featuring David Cross as a comedian friend is almost entirely pointless to the story. It is almost like they had Cross around, knew they wanted to use him but they couldn't figure out how to do it. While it might be said that he represents Donna's more irresponsible past, it seems a little unneeded and is a waste of Cross. While this would have made it run 80 minutes (if not less), this time might have been better supplemented by including more footage of comedians performing. "Obvious Child" is not just the story of a woman finally accepting her adulthood. It is about her performances on-stage and how they both mirror and end up influencing the events of her real-life. Some more digging into this concept would have fleshed this out a bit. Maybe a few other comedians going through similar "performance therapy" moments would have driven this point home further.
"Obvious Child" is a sharp and touching film that hopefully makes filmmakers realize that the "romantic comedy" genre might not be dead but instead just needs a reinvention. It is one of the most moving films to be released in some time. Through her performance and the wonderful characterization, it is impossible not to fall in love with Jenny Slate and her character Donna. At the end of the movie, you will feel that you've made the journey with her. You might even walk away thinking about things you need to do in your own life to be pushed deeper (or at all) into adulthood.
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