Directed by Pamela Adlon and written by Ilana Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz, after getting pregnant from a one-night stand, a single woman leans on her married best friend and mother of two to guide her through gestation and beyond. Starring: Ilana Glazer, Michelle Buteau, John Carroll Lynch, Oliver Platt, Sandra Bernhard, Stephan James, Hasan Minhaj, Keith Lucas and Kenneth Lucas.
First and foremost, the combination of Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau is infinitely worth watching, no matter the package that it comes in. These are two incredibly funny, fierce and vibrant actresses who have such a fantastic comedy background that they’re intoxicatingly flexible and fearless, which in turn creates a wonderful unpredictability. All of that is captured in Babes because they are the heart and soul of the film, there may be other actors in it, but never for one moment is the focus not on one or both of them.
Ilana Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz’s writing is all about the female friendship, its up and downs, the loyalty and the frustration. It’s a warts-and-all exploration of what happens when two women have such a long-lasting and utterly close friendship. The ride or die relationship between Glazer’s Eden and Buteau’s Dawn is a joy to watch, the connection between them is ridiculously good and they are just genuinely fabulous and funny. Not only that but by the end, you find yourself emotionally invested in them, to the point where the final scenes bring a few tears to your eye.
Glazer gives us her usual unendingly perky, enthusiastic and overly committed type, she’s all in, whether or not everyone else is quite on board. She’s smart but can have blinders on at times, and she also has a stellar chemistry with the charming Stephan James. It’s only a shame he doesn’t get more screen time. Buteau brings a great bluntness, she portrays a working mother, recently having her second child and realising how much that truly shakes up her world. It’s hugely relatable and at times necessarily harsh.
The only standout from all of that synchronicity is the direction and score, for what is such a modern comedy, the visual style and music plays things extremely old-school. They’re giving a 1970s New York vibe, which doesn’t necessarily not work but it also doesn’t feel like the perfect fit for Babes. It feels as though it holds it back slightly, makes it miss out on a certain sharper edge or more biting quality to its big comedy. As if it’s reining things in and not letting it go as wild as it would like to.
Babes is a fantastic example of exploring different sides of motherhood, showing the good and the bad, that having a family is a lot of work and how that impacts your friendships. It has its flaws but having Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau at the helm makes them beyond easy to overlook. These two women together are electric, yet in the most down to earth, unapologetic and bluntly honest way. It has a certain extravagant, exuberant edge but never becomes ridiculous, it’s paced well and by the time the credits roll, is genuinely touching.