Baby Mama is a 2008 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Michael McCullers in his directorial debut and starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Romany Malco, Maura Tierney, Holland Taylor, with Steve Martin, and Sigourney Weaver.

Plot

Successful single businesswoman Kate Holbrook (Tina Fey) has always prioritized her career over her personal life. Now at age 37, she finally decides to have her own child, but her plans are dampened when she discovers she has a minuscule chance of becoming pregnant because of a T-shaped uterus. Also denied the chance to adopt, Kate hires an immature, obnoxious, South Philadelphia woman named Angie Ostrowski (Amy Poehler) to become her surrogate mother.

After learning from Chaffee Bicknell (Sigourney Weaver), the steely head of their surrogacy center, that Angie has become pregnant, Kate prepares for motherhood in her own typically driven fashion, reading childcare books, baby-proofing the apartment and researching top pre-schools. However, the executive s well-organized strategy is upended when Angie shows up at her door, homeless. Their conflicting personalities put them at odds as Kate learns first-hand about balancing motherhood and career and also dates the owner of a local blended-juice cafe, Rob Ackerman (Greg Kinnear).

Unknown to Kate, Angie s in-vitro fertilization procedure had failed and she is feigning the pregnancy, hoping to ultimately run off with her payment. Eventually, she starts to regret lying about being pregnant, but she continually puts off confessing. When she gets an ultrasound, she discovers she is indeed pregnant. Realizing the baby is her own—with her common-law husband Carl (Dax Shepard), from whom she is separated—Angie is forced to confess at Kate s baby shower. When Kate explains to Angie that the pregnancy test was supposed to be taken two weeks after the procedure, and that the baby could still belong to her, a wedge is driven between the two women.

A court hearing determines that the baby is Angie s, and Angie impassionedly apologizes to Kate. As the women meet face-to-face after the proceedings, Angie s water breaks and Kate rushes her to the hospital, then passes out during the birth. As she wakes up, the doctor supervising Angie s pregnancy tells Kate that she s two months pregnant (the result of her relationship with Rob). After receiving the news, she visits Angie, who is holding her new baby daughter Stef, named for Gwen Stefani. Kate forgives Angie and the two become best friends, ultimately changing each other for the better.

Angie and Kate raise their children and are in a sister-like relationship one year later at Stef s first-birthday party. It is revealed that Kate and Rob are parents of a baby daughter and are engaged. Although he does not reunite with Angie, Carl stays close to his daughter and takes parenting classes. The final scene shows Angie and Kate sitting in front of a television set with their children, watching Tom and Jerry cartoons.

Cast

• Tina Fey as Katherine Kate Holbrook – Mother
• Amy Poehler as Angela Angie Ostrowski – Surrogate mother
• Greg Kinnear as Rob Ackerman – SuperFruity cafe owner
• Dax Shepard as Carl Loomis – Angie s Common Law husband
• Sigourney Weaver as Chaffee Bicknell – Surrogate agent
• Steve Martin as Barry Waterman – Kate s boss – Round Earth Organic Market
• Romany Malco as Oscar Priyan – Doorman
• Maura Tierney as Caroline – Kate s sister
• Holland Taylor as Rose Holbrook – Kate s mother
• Stephen Mailer as Dan
• Siobhan Fallon Hogan as The Birthing Teacher
• Kevin Collins as Rick – Round Earth employee
• Will Forte as Scott – Kate s former boyfriend
• Denis O Hare as Dr. Manheim
• Fred Armisen as The Stroller Salesman
• James Rebhorn as Judge
• John Hodgman as Fertility Specialist
• Thomas McCarthy as Kate s Date
• Jason Mantzoukas as Jonothan – Surrogate father
• Dave Finkel as Gay Couple
• Brian Stack as Dave

Reception

Critical reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 63% based on 166 reviews, with an average rating of 6.20/10. The website s critics consensus reads: Baby Mama is a lightweight, predictable comedy that ekes by on the strength of its performers. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating mixed or average reviews . Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B+ on an A+ to F scale.

Box office

In its opening weekend, Baby Mama grossed $17,407,110 in 2,543 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #1 at the box office and averaging $6,845 per theater. Baby Mama eventually grossed a total of $64,163,648. Its production budget was $30 million.

Home media

Baby Mama was released on September 9, 2008 on both DVD and Blu-ray. Extras included commentary with writer/director Michael McCullers and cast members Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, From Conception to Delivery: The Making of Baby Mama featurette, an alternate ending, deleted scenes, and Saturday Night Live: Legacy of Laughter.

Year	2008
ReleaseDate	2008-04-25
RuntimeMins	99
RuntimeStr	1h 39min
Plot	A successful, single businesswoman who dreams of having a baby discovers she is infertile and hires a working class woman to be her unlikely surrogate.
Awards	Awards, 1 win & 5 nominations
Directors	Michael McCullers
Writers	Michael McCullers
Stars	Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Sigourney Weaver
Produced by	Kay Cannon,Erin David,John Goldwyn,Ryan Kavanaugh,Jill Sobel Messick,Lorne Michaels,Louise Rosner
Music by	Jeff Richmond
Cinematography by	Daryn Okada
Film Editing by	Bruce Green,Debra Neil-Fisher
Casting By	Avy Kaufman
Production Design by	Jess Gonchor
Art Direction by	David Swayze
Set Decoration by	Susan Bode,Jennifer Alex Nickason
Costume Design by	Renee Ehrlich Kalfus
Makeup Department	Richard Dean,Donna Marie Fischetto,Michelle Johnson,Todd Kleitsch,Anita Lausevic,Jenn Jorge Nelson,Stephanie Pasicov,Peggy Schierholz,Julie Teel,Nora Martin
Production Management	David Bausch,Lisa Rodgers,Louise Rosner
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Noreen R. Cheleden,Stephen Lee Davis,Bellamy Forrest,Michael Pitt
Art Department	Glen Aldous,Robert Antalocy,Laura Ballinger,Steve Brennan,Garf Brown,Jason Jay Brown,Catriona Cat Crosby,Jen Day,Jerry DeRogatis,Frank Didio,Amy Fritz,Steven Glazman,Apache Gonzalez,Alex Gorodetsky,Bruce Lee Gross,Jay Hendrickx,Gina Herold,Gregory Hill,Gay A. Howard,Mark Hurtado,Heather Danielle Kane,Robin McAllister,Jeffrey D. McDonald,Victor Morales,Quang Nguyen,Jennifer Alex Nickason,Eric Pastore,Ron Petagna,Ronnie Petagna,John Ralbovsky,Daniel Rosenfeld,Andrew Rossig,Amy Safhay,Jennifer Santucci,Zach Selter,Marcia C. Suter,Omar Vaid,Greg Voth,Christopher Weiser,James Whelan
Sound Department	Robert Althoff,Paul Aulicino,Allan Byer,Damian Canelos,Marc Deschaine,Marc Fishman,Nerses Gezalyan,Mike Howells,Bobby Johanson,Tony Lamberti,Steve Nelson,Beauxregard Neylen,Michelle Pazer,Paul Pouthier,Stephen P. Robinson,Becky Sullivan,David Williams
Special Effects by	Mark Bero,Steven Kirshoff,Robert J. Scupp
Visual Effects by	Akemi Abe,Ryan Beadle,Christopher Cram,Samuel M. Dabbs,Sarah Grieshammer,Shaina Holmes,Sean Kennedy,Steve Koch,Paulina Kuszta,Erin L. Nelson,Wilson Tang
Stunts	G.A. Aguilar,Jill Brown,Blaise Corrigan,Joe Mancini
Camera and Electrical Department	Joseph Abbatecola,K.C. Bailey,Kelly Britt,David Conelli,Stephen Consentino,Jonathan A. Davidson,Andy Day,Jamie Gallagher,Dennis Green,Charlie Grubbs,Nick Haines-Stiles,James Heerdegen,Joel Holland,Michael A. Leo,Chris Lombardozzi,Bruce MacCallum,William MacGhee,Bobby Mancuso,Charlie Marroquin,Lance Mayer,Ed Nessen,Heather Norton,Jesse Pelikan,Leon Sanginiti,Gerard Sava,Mark Schmidt,Craig Striano,Andrew Sweeney,David J. Thompson,Craig Vaccaro,Mark Walpole,John Woods,Yueni Zander
Casting Department	Elizabeth Dean,Lois Drabkin,Barbara McNamara,Leeba Zakharov,John Girod
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Susan Bakula,Trenee Clayton,Barbara Hause,Bryan Mathison,Alethea McElroy,Brianna Patterson,Jennifer Rogien,Elizabeth Shelton,Adam Watt,Leslie Yarmo
Editorial Department	David S. Clark,Ally Garrett,Mark Miessner,Christian Miglio,Josh Olive,Carrie Puchkoff,Richie Roefaro,Mary Beth Smith,Jeff Smithwick,Lora Sorrentino,Lee Wimer,Laura Yanovich,Esther Young,Jenny Caceres,Jeff James,Mark Sahagun
Location Management	Billy Arrowood,Lolly Daskal,Ryan Ferguson,Scott Ferlisi,Sarah Follett,John Galloway,Jason A. McCauley,Michael L. Mizrahi,Justin Reid,Dawn Rosado,Yorgo Stathopoulos,Wendy Taylor,Gayle Vangrofsky,Jamie Vermilye
Music Department	Julian Bratolyubov,George Doering,Andrew Dorfman,Bruce Fowler,Steven Fowler,Walt Fowler,Rick Giovinazzo,Jim Harrison,Yvonne S. Moriarty,Kathy Nelson,Jason Poss,Tim Rodier,Erik Swanson,James Thatcher,Louise Di Tullio,Fred Vogler,Giancarlo Vulcano,Gina Zimmitti
Script and Continuity Department	Jessica Lichtner
Transportation Department	James Fanning,Amber R. Kirsch,Brian Lieberz
Additional Crew	Stacy Adamski,David Arnott,Kimberly Bailey,Andrea Baker,Laura Lynn Berrios,Pamela Bertini,Patrick Bevilacqua,Thomas Bianco,Thomas Doc Boguski,Nick Bommer,Emily Brownell,Sarah Cappetta,Cathy Cavadini,Al Cerullo,Wendy Cohen,Greg Connolly,Angela Cutrone,John DeMita,Logan Wolfe Edler,Greg Finley,Jeffrey Todd Fischer,Peggy Flood,Ramon Flowers,Lowell Freedman,Niko Godfrey,Eric Gurian,Barbara Harris,Alana Harrison,Brian Hershkowitz,James Hinton,Corri Hopkins,Meredith Petty Hughes,Jeff Joslin,Carlyle King,Risa Klein,Cohl Kenneth Klop,Julie Kuehndorf,Harry Lapham,Grace Lee,Melanie Lopes Lumelleau,Kristyn Macready,Terence Mathews,Talia Mayer,Andrew McGovern,David Michie,Melissa Mugavero,Julia Muggia,Kyle O Brien,Dana Palmer,Joseph S. Patire,Monica Perez Gelbman,Flo Phillips,Patricia Porter,Michael Ralph,David Randolph,Allison Robin,Stephanie Rodgers,Vernon Scott,Jake Seidler,Anita Sum,Melissa Tomjanovich,Denise Violante,Andreana Weiner,Ruth Zalduondo,Celia Allen,John Hamilton,Gale Hansen,Faya Madrid,Matthew J. Vince
Genres	Comedy, Romance
Companies	Broadway Video, Michaels Goldwyn, Relativity Media
Countries	USA
Languages	English
ContentRating	PG-13
ImDbRating	6
ImDbRatingVotes	45461
MetacriticRating	55
Keywords	male anorexia,woman wears eyeglasses,deception,faked pregnancy,2000s