Considering the state of the Netflix rom-coms of late, we all knew Kinda Pregnant was not going to be good. Besides Trainwreck, Amy Schumer’s rom-coms have been a miss for me, and Kinda Pregnant falls into that category.
Schumer plays Lainy, who’s always desired to be a mother, especially since she lost her own mom at a young age. But it’s not happened, and the dream seems even further away when her boyfriend of 4 years proposes a threesome instead of marriage. To add salt to the wound, her best friend Kate (Jillian Bell) is pregnant and getting closer to other pregnant friends due to shared experience. In a fit of insanity, Lainy tries on a pregnancy bump in a store, and after the saleswoman fawns over her as she assumes she’s pregnant, Lainy decides to keep the bump.
With things at a low in her life, she takes the bump for a spin, and the world feels a little brighter now that she’s pregnant. The movie’s not wrong on that count – pregnant women do get more concessions, and having children is presented as desirable, but we can understand why people are generally kinder to pregnant women. Lainy’s little bit of fun gets complicated when she meets Meg (Brianne Howey), a pregnant mom, at a weird, farty yoga session. Meg and Lainy vibe with each other – goodness knows why because Lainy is kind of weird – and they’re making dinner plans and spending time with each other. Meg’s brother Josh (Will Forte) and Lainy meet again at this dinner, and then start casually seeing each other.
There are a few running gags that’s a tad funny, like the whole thanksgiving, Black Friday sales joke, and the set piece involving garage sex, but besides these moments, the humour feels tired and old. Kinda Pregnant is like a throwback to one of those 2000s goofy rom-coms, so that brand of nostalgia might appeal to some, but I think time would be better spent on one of those better rom-coms than this try-hard version with humour so juvenile I cringed more than I laughed.
Bell isn’t in this enough to make an impact, and Urzila Carlson’s Fallon comes across as some token character usually played by the likes of Rebel Wilson. Lainy’s masquerade as a pregnant woman makes her character most would find difficult to relate to. Her desperation is understandable, but the lengths of her deception is honestly psychotic. There’s no coming back from something like that. It’s a shame as Will Forte feels right at home here in the rom-com world. Forte’s Josh is charming, considerate and has decent chemistry with Schumer. Duke McCloud, the child actor who plays Meg’s son Connor, is absolutely adorable and I enjoyed his scenes. He’s not in the movie much, but has excellent comedic timing for one so young.
Kinda Pregnant isn’t good, isn’t memorable, and not funny enough to warrant you spending time on it. Seek out other better rom-coms this Valentine’s day.
REVIEW SCORE: 1.5/5
