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Tribeca Spits Up ‘Baby Mama’
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Wednesday’s premiere of ‘Baby Mama’ was the perfect choice to kick off NYC’s Tribeca Film Festival. Not because the Tina Fey/Amy Poehler vehicle is good. It’s okay, perhaps even a little disappointing.
Just like the festival.
Robert De Niro co-founded Tribeca after September 11 to help invigorate the city’s depressed downtown and even more depressed residents. Seven years later, Tribeca is one of the most expensive zip codes in the U.S. Perhaps De Niro’s idea worked too well. The festival’s original purpose no longer exists.
Which leaves it floundering for an identity. Toronto is known for launching Oscar contenders. Sundance has a lock on independents, and Cannesis the place for foreign art films.
"I don't know that we're ready yet to say this is a Tribeca film, this isn't a Tribeca film," said festival programmer Peter Scarlet. "And indeed part of what makes Tribeca-ness -— a word I'm not sure I want to be quoted on —- is that we're a very diverse festival."
So “Tribeca-ness” is basically whatever. Along with a few high- profile documentaries and an outdoor presentation of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video (why?), the three anchor films are ‘Speed Racer,’
‘David Mamet’s ‘Redbelt,’ and ‘Baby Mama.’ Like they picked up a couple of films out of the bargain bin while waiting in the “15 Items or Less: line: “This is a cute poster. Let’s show this one!”
‘Baby Mama,’ for example, seems like a hit on the surface. There’s an enormous amount of talent in it. In addition to Fey and Poehler, there’s Greg Kinnear, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Martin, and pretty much every actor who’s ever been on SNL. But the film fails to elicit more than a mild chuckle. Everyone is underused, and the story is predictable. Definitely a rental.
That’s the way Tribeca itself feels. Like a rented tux. It looks good but doesn’t quite fit. De Niro and company need to sit down after this year’s festival is over and come up with some kind of vision.
