Babes is a raunchy, earnest, overbearing, loud, and touching film that assuredly talks to moms and prospective moms of a specific generation. I found it amusingly crass and amusingly honest at the same time… exhausting to watch peppered in with genuine emotion and revelation.

It’s about lifelong friends where the married one just gives birth right before the unmarried friend winds up pregnant and alone. The rest of the movie is pregnancy and new born gag after gag after gag.

My biggest problem with this film is how unvaryingly overload these two characters are. If they didn’t chill out and just act occasionally like real humans, I’d have rated this flick much lower. I get that it’s probably their act (and their generation) talking but a little of their overboard went a long way.

Which isn’t to say some of that schtick wasn’t funny. I smiled, smirked, and even occasionally laughed at their over-the-top-ed-ness. But I also desperately wanted them to chill the hell out and just act like real humans.

And occasionally they did… and those moments sparkled. The relationship between the two ladies was occasionally very honest (and familiar) and had a final moment of genuine charm. But the stunning revelation of what it means to birth another human being was the crowning glory (pun intended). It’s a moment of honest awareness and I loved it… even if it was peppered in with some of the usual schtick.

I’m mixed on this film but generally positive. I kind of want to nudge it to a higher score, but between its length and the acting choices, it sits where it sits. And I bet people who connect with the comic stylings of these ladies will love it full stop.

Score: 79