Picture the scene - it's an office. Three ladies are sitting together, transfixed as a handsome young actor seductively recites a poem to them. When he has finished Joanna Lumley, with the sauciest grin you've ever seen on her face, says: "Darling, you're in serious danger of turning me back into a heterosexual!"
That scene alone is enough to see this film - I was in stitches for about 3 minutes!
I saw Maybe Baby the other evening with my friend Ruth, at a sneak preview. We both had very mixed feelings about it, agreeing that for the first half an hour it was fresh, funny and entertaining.
Maybe I'm biased as I am a major Joanna Lumley fan, but as soon as she disappears from sight, something goes slightly wrong and I began to look at my watch wondering when it would finish.
One of the biggest problems with this film is the casting of Joely Richardson as Lucy, the woman who is so desperate to conceive a baby. She is such an irritating character, not to mention soppy and bossy, that you really don't give a hoot if she DOES become pregnant. Personally, I would worry for the offspring's sanity with Lucy as a mother.
On the other hand, Hugh Laurie managed to be funny, charming, sympathetic and endearing, while Emma Thompson was great in her one and only scene as their hippie pal.
I practically closed my eyes whenever Rowan Atkinson (as Lucy's gynacologist) appeared onscreen - WHY does he always play these braindead characters? He is far more effective in the wily and acid-tongued roles like Blackadder.
It's a sweetly undemanding film, but if you are expecting anything like Notting Hill or Four Weddings & A Funeral, you'll be very disappointed.
