Not So Obvious Child

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I considered calling this review "Aborting Everything But The Laughs," so let's just be happy I didn't go there and move on. Moving on!

So there's a nice little self-deprecating moment in Obvious Child where characters quite clearly in a rom-com (of its own sort) make blecch noises about rom-coms - the wink is there but it's not pushing its luck, and that vibe of amiable cleverness, of getting that the rules exist and wanting to play with them while also not wanting to be a dick about it and just wanting to keep you involved on the story's own level, that genial vibe is what sees this lovely little comedy about romance (and yes, abortion) through. I s'pose it's the abortion angle that'll be the talking point, but thankfully they clearly wanted to make a movie that doesn't jump off the cliff of hype and hysteria and takes a look at the situation from the ground, bless them for it. 

And to meld the two, there are all kinds of ways the tropes of adorable lil' rom-coms are used to soften the edges of the politicized story, in really ingenious ways that I don't totally want to dive into lest they spoil some of the film's pleasures as they play out. Let's just say it sets up scenes you're expecting only to then spin them off into character-specific unexpected ways that keep, scene after scene, becoming terrifically poignant little capsules of warm, human sincerity. The night-time visit with Mom (played by a wonderful Polly Draper) comes to mind, as does the ending, which I adored. 

Obvious Child is out in theaters in NY and LA today! You can find listings of that sort, there wheres and the whehsn it'll come closer to you, at this link.Here's the trailer:

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