{"id":35762,"date":"2016-04-07T22:51:49","date_gmt":"2016-04-08T05:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/?p=35762"},"modified":"2016-04-07T22:51:49","modified_gmt":"2016-04-08T05:51:49","slug":"challenge-week-14-obvious-child","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/challenge-week-14-obvious-child\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenge Week 14: Obvious Child"},"content":{"rendered":"

I could start off by saying that this is the sweetest romantic comedy about abortion I can imagine, and that’s probably true. That said, it basically is a romantic comedy about abortion, and that’s not a subject I particularly enjoy in films.<\/p>\n

The “obvious child” of the title is not really the baby being aborted, who’s barely acknowledged at all, but the 27-year-old Donna Stern (Jenny Slate), a girl in New York City working in a progressive bookstore and doing stand up comedy in the evenings. The film opens on one of her routines, and it’s an awkward but decently funny brand of self-deprecating humor. We’ll see a few more as the film goes on and they parallel her changes in self-confidence as she’s first dumped by her boyfriend (a particularly terrible self-pitying routine) and then as she regains confidence through the growing up that pregnancy has forced her to do – even though she decides to end that pregnancy and doesn’t waver.<\/p>\n

\"tf-bar-bathroom\"<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I actually wrote a paper in grad school about three pregnancy films of 2007 – Juno<\/em>, Knocked Up<\/em>, and 4 Weeks, 3 Months, 2 Days<\/em>. It would’ve been fascinating had Obvious Child<\/em> come out that year, too. I mentioned in that paper that Knocked Up<\/em> was somewhat unbelievable because Allison (Katharine Heigl’s career-minded character) would definitely have AT LEAST considered abortion when she discovered she was pregnant after a one-night stand with Seth Rogen. Ellen Page’s Juno did consider abortion, but ultimately found the clinic offputting and decided to find an adoptive family instead. (The third film is explicitly about seeking an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania.)<\/p>\n

Obvious Child<\/em> veered too far the opposite way from Knocked Up<\/em> for me, and maybe it’s simply that you can’t really make a film that centers so much on an abortion (at least not now, when it’s such a hot-button topic) without having it seem agenda-driven. The agenda here is “abortion is normal, casual even, everyone has had one and it’s no big deal.” The only thing Donna balks at is the cost, and even that’s never really followed through (I guess her mom gave her the money?). On the flip side, if a character like Donna had not considered abortion, or had flipped at the last minute and decided to keep the baby, that would’ve felt false. I know this is the film Gillian Robespierre wanted to make, so I can’t say she wrote herself into a corner or anything like that, but for me personally as a viewer, it’s kind of a no-win topic.<\/p>\n

\"tf-box-bookstore\"<\/p>\n

As an indie rom-com, it’s fairly assured, especially as a debut. Jenny Slate is a good lead, and captures the awkward humor of the character perfectly, as well as giving her a lot of depth in the quieter, more thoughtful moments. Her tentative romance (post one-night-stand) with Jake Lacy’s Max is sweet and enjoyable, and Gaby Hoffmann’s best friend Nellie stole every scene she was in. I do tire a bit of this type of awkward twenty-something indie film, something which also hurt In a World<\/em>, another recent woman-directed film that I wanted to like a lot more than I did.<\/p>\n

There were moments I enjoyed or appreciated a lot, others that made me cringe for a variety of reasons, and the confluence of sensibility and subject matter just wasn’t great for me. I’m glad to have seen it, though, because I heard so much about it when it came out and I was quite curious to check it out.<\/p>\n

Stats and stuff…<\/h3>\n

2014, USA<\/em>
\nwritten and directed by Gillian Robespierre<\/em>
\nstarring Jenny Slate, Jake Lacy, Gaby Hoffmann<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m ranking all my Challenge films on Flickchart (as I do all the films I see), a movie-ranking website that asks you to choose your favorite between two movies until it builds a ranked list of your favorites. Just for fun, I will average out the rankings and keep a running tally of whose recommendations rank the highest. When you add a film to Flickchart, it pits it against films already on your chart to see where it should fall. Here’s how Obvious Child<\/em> entered my chart:<\/p>\n

Obvious Child<\/b> beats Kramer vs. Kramer
\nObvious Child loses to Johnny Tremain<\/b>
\nObvious Child<\/b> beats DuBarry Was a Lady
\nObvious Child loses to A Room with a View<\/b>
\nObvious Child loses to The Blob<\/b> (1958)
\nObvious Child loses to Ikiru<\/b>
\nObvious Child<\/b> beats Apocalypse Now
\nObvious Child loses to Vanilla Sky<\/b>
\nObvious Child loses to Shenandoah<\/b>
\nObvious Child loses to Dick Tracy<\/b>
\nObvious Child<\/b> beats Reap the Wild Wind
\nObvious Child loses to Wet Hot American Summer<\/b><\/p>\n

Final ranking #1322 out of 3610 films on my chart (63%)<\/p>\n

It is now my #1 (and only) Gillian Robespierre film, my #1 (and only) Jenny Slate film, and my #15 film of 2014.<\/p>\n

Obvious Child<\/em> was recommended by Marya Gates, a Twitter and TCM Fest friend.<\/p>\n

A few quotes…<\/h3>\n

Donna:<\/b> Stop looking at your phone while you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re dumping me.<\/p>\n

Nancy Stern:<\/b> You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re almost 30 years old, you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how to do your taxes…
\nDonna:<\/b> I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m three years away from 30, and nobody knows how to do their taxes.<\/p>\n

Nellie:<\/b> What is so great about you is you are unapologetically you<\/em> on that stage, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why people love you.<\/p>\n

Nellie:<\/b> You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re dizzy because you played Russian Roulette with your vagina.<\/p>\n

Clinic doctor:<\/b> Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about your options.
\nDonna:<\/b> I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like an abortion, please.<\/p>\n

A few more screenshots…<\/h3>\n

\"tf-meet-cute\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-pout-coffee\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-bed-with-mom\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-in-box\"<\/p>\n

\"tf-laughing\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I could start off by saying that this is the sweetest romantic comedy about abortion I can imagine, and that’s probably true. That said, it basically is a romantic comedy about abortion, and that’s not a subject I particularly enjoy in films. The “obvious child” of the title is not really the baby being aborted, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3027],"tags":[3105,3106,3104],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/tf-feat-stage.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36287,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/challenge-week-37-silver-linings-playbook\/","url_meta":{"origin":35762,"position":0},"title":"Challenge Week 37: Silver Linings Playbook","author":"Jandy","date":"October 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I was very pleasantly surprised by this one. David O. Russell films often leave me feeling a little bit off, and with the combination mental health and football fan angles in this one, I was afraid it would be overly simplistic and\/or maudlin and\/or too sports-related. It's actually a very\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"tf-letter","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/tf-letter.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27273,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2011\/09\/50dmc-29-a-movie-everyone-should-see\/","url_meta":{"origin":35762,"position":1},"title":"50DMC #29: A Movie Everyone Should See","author":"Jandy","date":"September 8, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The 50 Day Movie Challenge asks one question every day, to be answered by a few paragraphs and a clip, if possible. Click here for the full list of questions. Today's prompt: What's a movie you think everyone should see? This is a question I never quite know how to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/To-Be-or-Not-to-Be.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23437,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/50dmc-4-favorite-animated-film\/","url_meta":{"origin":35762,"position":2},"title":"50DMC #4: Favorite Animated Film","author":"Jandy","date":"July 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The 50 Day Movie Challenge asks one question every day, to be answered by a few paragraphs and a clip, if possible. Click here for the full list of questions. Today's prompt: What is your favorite animated film? The original thought behind this question was probably to choose an animated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/50-Day-Challenge-04.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23082,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/review-the-trip\/","url_meta":{"origin":35762,"position":3},"title":"Review: The Trip","author":"Jandy","date":"June 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"[Rating:4\/5] originally posted on Row Three With no other knowledge about the film, the title \"The Trip\" might, to unsuspecting American ears, conjure up images of Road Trip and frat boy humor, possibly even the thought that Todd Phillips has snuck in a second movie this year to compete with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Film"","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Trip-featured.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35772,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/04\/challenge-week-14-something-new\/","url_meta":{"origin":35762,"position":4},"title":"Challenge Week 14: Something New","author":"Jandy","date":"April 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Sorry for the delay on this one - combination of Netflix, library, and my own procrastination made acquiring the film take longer than I expected. I am caught up on watching films, but will likely do short writeups of the latest three to catch up. Right upfront, I want to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2016 Movie Challenge"","block_context":{"text":"2016 Movie Challenge","link":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/category\/film\/2016-movie-challenge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/tf-feat.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36554,"url":"https:\/\/www.the-frame.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/challenge-week-47-limelight\/","url_meta":{"origin":35762,"position":5},"title":"Challenge Week 47: Limelight","author":"Jandy","date":"December 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been wanting to see Limelight for quite some time, as what most people consider Chaplin's last great film, so I really appreciate the push to see it. I had high hopes and they were both met and exceeded. 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