DVD Sleuth: The Babymakers Blu-ray Disc Review

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The Babymakers (2012)

Millennium Entertainment
Blu-ray Disc Released: 9/18/2012

All Ratings out of
Movie: 1/2
Video: 1/2
Audio:
Extras: 1/2

Review by Mike Long, Posted on 9/18/2012

Talk to people across various industries and you'll find that many of them are craving one thing -- consistency. If you can do something well once, then you should try to do it well all of the time. While no one is perfect, it is nice to feel that people are always trying their hardest. We really crave this from filmmakers. How many directors can you name where you love one of their movies and wish that their other works measured up to it? Broken Lizard found nearly instant cult status with their second feature film Super Troopers in 2001. The group has released three movies since that time and none of them have measured up, with the last one, The Slammin' Salmon, being notably unfunny. Now two members of the group are involved in a movie called The Babymakers. Will this be a case of addition by subtraction?

The Babymakers tells the story of Tommy (Paul Schneider) and Audrey (Olvia Munn), a couple who have been married for three years. They decide that it's time to start a family, but despite months of trying, Audrey doesn't get pregnant. They see a specialist who reports that Tommy's sperm are defective. Tommy knows that this hasn't always been the case as he donated sperm in order to pay for Audrey's engagement ring. He goes to the sperm bank to see if he can retrieve a sample and finds that they are all gone, save for one, which has been promised to another couple. When legitimate attempts to procure the sample fail, Tommy decides that, with the help of his friends, he will simply rob the sperm bank.

I have to admit, I've never seen that used as the premise for a movie before. I've heard people joke about robbing a sperm bank, but basing an entire movie on it? That's new to me. Unfortunately, once The Babymakers implants (?!) this initial idea, we can almost hear the "and now what" coming from the writer's room. Screenwriters Peter Gaulke (who's worked on such winners as Strange Wilderness and Black Knight) and Gerry Swallow (which appears to be his real name) give Tommy a predicted goofy group of friends (Kevin Heffernan, Nat Faxon, and Wood Harris), but they aren't given much to do. Then, Director Jay Chandrasekhar enters the film as Ron Jon, a theif for hire who agrees to help Tommy. The movie is simply grasping at straws, attempting to bring in any factors which will help to pad the length to feature film status. The movie reaches one of many low points when the stress of the situation causes a rift between Tommy and Audrey. It's almost embarrassing when a movie which is filled with semen jokes suddenly tries to be serious and bring in the drama.

Speaking of jokes, I wish that some had made it into the film. Despite the presence of Chandrasekhar and Heffernan, this isn't a Broken Lizard project and it shows. Even their weakest outings were better than this. Along with his Broken Lizard work, Chandrasekhar has directed episodes of several popular and funny television shows, so he knows funny. So, what went wrong here? I think that a lot of it has to do with the cast. There are several jokes here which one can tell looked good on paper, but when said aloud, they simply fall flat. Paul Schneider was good on Parks & Recreations where all he had to do was looked befuddled by Amy Poehler's antics. But, he's asked to take the reins here and his exasperated act grows tiresome very quickly. He's simply not prepared to carry a film like this. I'm not sure what the big deal is about Olivia Munn, but she certainly doesn't make Audrey very appealing. Kevin Heffernan is solid as Tommy's pal Wade and he has some funny moments, but he's simply a bit player. And I'm sure that recent Oscar winner Nat Faxon (for his work on The Descendants screenplay) isn't happy that this movie has seen the light of day.

Until the next official Broken Lizard project, one would hope that movies like The Babymakers would hold us over. However, the movie is a true disappointment. I'm usually an easy target when it comes to silly, rude comedies, but this one misses the mark time after time. Despite the involvement of many known professionals, this feels like a student project which someone has attempted to stretch out to feature length. Let's put it this way, when a movie goes back to a cantaloupe joke twice, you know that you are in trouble. And one more thing, do Tommy and Audrey live in the Nightmare on Elm Street house?

The Babymakers is that rare film to have liquid nitrogen joke on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Millennium Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at 25 Mbps. The image is clear, showing no notable grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look very good, most notably reds and greens. However, the image is somewhat soft at times and doesn't show a great deal of detail. This may contribute to the fact that the image is somewhat flat looking. The Disc carries a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 1.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. Being a comedy, we don't get a lot of strong audio effects here. However, the finale does bring some noticeable surround sound and subwoofer effects. The music sounds fine and never drowns out the dialogue.

The Babymakers Blu-ray Disc contains three extra features. "Featurette" (5 minutes) contains some on-set footage and comments from Chandrasekhar and the cast, most of which simply introduces the characters and the plot. We also hear tidbits from the actors about the director. "Cast & Crew Interviews" (19 minutes) offers comment snippets (this is the only way to describe the editing here) from Chandrasekhar, Heffernan, Munn, Faxon, Schneider, and Harris, who again describe the story and characters. "Behind the Scenes" (10 minutes) is simply "fly on the wall" on-set video showing the cast and crew at work. Some speak to the camera, but I wouldn't call these interviews.