Pages

Friday, January 24, 2014

Miss Conception (2008) [R] *



Georgina (Heather Graham) is a single, successful, thirty-four year old entrepreneur who owns a construction company in London. She has a boyfriend, Zak (Tom Ellis) who takes her for granted, and a long-time girlfriend Clem (Mia Kirshner). What Georgina doesn't have, however is a baby, and after Zak's sister gives birth, Georgina begins to hear her own biological clock ticking. She visits a fertility clinic and learns she has only one ovum left, and that she's likely to ovulate within the next couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, Zak, who's a documentary film producer, is scheduled to be in Ireland filming with his hot, young assistant, plus he's clearly not interested in becoming a father. So Georgina and Clem must come up with a plan to get Georgina pregnant that does not involve Zak. The pregnancy plan includes club hopping, crashing a funeral, prevailing upon Clem's gay dress designer friend, and sperm donor internet sites.

While the film's concept is mildly interesting, the premise that someone as gorgeous and successful as Georgina would have trouble finding a suitable mate is hard to believe. And while the film's pacing is good, the screenplay shows very little imagination; there's no memorable dialog so Graham spends a lot of time mugging for the camera. Much of the comedy borders on bedroom farce, plot points are telegraphed ahead of time so there are no surprises, and we know the ending well in advance. Also, neither actress is totally comfortable with her English accent. 

Heather Graham clearly has talent, as she demonstrated in Gray Matters, but she needs projects that demand more of her than just looking good in bra and panties. Mia Kirshner also has talent, as evidenced by her work in The L Word but here she is badly underutilized. In the final analysis, only Heather Graham's most ardent fans will be rewarded by this forgettable film. 


Labels: comedy, romance

Internet Movie Database
Metacritic 33/100
Tomatometer (critics=8, viewers=19)

No comments:

Post a Comment