Unfortunately, “Nasty Baby” suffers from a bland storyline. For the majority of the film, you wonder if the film is primarily all about whether or not a woman will get pregnant with her friend’s sperm or how gay men must deal with people who disapprove of their lifestyle. The film changes its tone a little late in the film and becomes a different film entirely. I found the films transition from its comedy to a darker film, to actually be much more entertaining and eventually ends up saving the film by taking a risk and giving viewers something they’ll never expect to see coming.
TITLE: Nasty Baby
YEAR OF FILM: 2015
DURATION: 101 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation 1:85:1, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English, English SDH and Spanish
RATED: R (Sexual Content, Some Disturbing Violence, Language, Drug Use and Graphic Nude Images)
COMPANY: The Orchard/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Released Dated: December 22, 2015
Directed by Sebastian Silva
Screenplay by Sebastian Silva
Produced by Amy Ziering
Co-Producer: Nicole Ehrlich, Bonnie Greenberg
Executive Produced: Pape Boye, Peter Danner, Violaine Pichlon, Sebastian Silva, Christine Vachon
Associate Producer: Charlie Dibe, David Hinojosa, Juan de Dios Larrain, Pablo Larrain, Julia Oh
Co-Producer: Alia Shawkat
Music by Danny Bensi, Saunder Jurriaans
Cinematographer: Sergio Armstrong
Edited by Sofia Subercaseaux
Casting by Katja Blichfeld, Jessica Daniels
Art Direction by Naomi Munro
Set Decoration by Naomi Munro
Costume Design by Mark Grattan
Starring:
Sebastian Silva as Freddy
Kristen Wiig as Polly
Tunde Adebimpe as Mo
Reg E. Cathey as The Bishop
Mark Margolis as Richard
Agustin Silva as Chino
Alia Shawkat as Wendy
An award-winning favorite by Sebastian Silva (“The Maid”), NASTY BABY centers on Freddy (Silva), a Brooklyn-based artist who, with his boyfriend, Mo (Tunde Adebimpe), and their best friend, Polly (Kristen Wiig), is trying to have a baby. As this trio deals with the complications of conception and creating the “new normal” family, their bliss is clouded by a series of confrontations with an annoying neighbor who just might be a madman.
From Sebastian Silva, the director of “Magic Magic”, “Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus” and “The Boring Life of Jacqueline” comes his 2015 Chilean-American drama.
A winner of the Teddy Award for best LGBT-themed feature film, “Nasty Baby” stars Sebastian Silva, Kristen Wiig (“Brides Maids”, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, “The Martian”), Tunde Adebimpe (“Rachel Getting Married”, “Jump Tomorrow”, “Never Back Down”), Reg E. Cathey (“Se7en”, “The Machinist”, “American Psycho”), Mark Margolis (“The Werestler”, “Pi”, “Requiem for a Dream”) and Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development”, “Three Kings”, “Whip It”).
And the film will be released on DVD in December 2015 courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
“Nasty Baby” revolves around a couple, Freddy (portrayed by Sebastian Silva) and Mo (portrayed by Tunde Adebimpe) and their friend Polly (portrayed by Kristen Wiig).
Freddy is a performing artist trying to make a short film with his co-producer Wendy (portrayed by Alia Shawkat) featuring him as a screaming infant.
As Polly and Freddy are very close friends, he volunteers to use his sperm in order for her to have a child as she is getting older. But because his sperm count is too low, she turns to Mo to donate his sperm in hopes that she can get pregnant.
But as these friends are happy with each other, for Freddy and Mo, they must deal with their mentally unstable neighbor, Bishop (portrayed by Reg E. Cathey), who keeps running his leaf blower very early in the morning and has a problem with the gay men.
Meanwhile, Richard (portrayed by Mark Margolis) is a gay neighbor who tends to come to their defense against The Bishop. But his mental health becomes more violent towards the couple.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Nasty Baby” is presented in Anamorphic widescreen (1:85:1) and in Dolby Digital 5.1. A lot of the film was shot outdoors and those scenes are vibrant and looks good. While not released on Blu-ray, for the most part, picture and audio quality is as good as one can expect on a DVD release.
Subtitles are in English SDH.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Nasty Baby” comes with the following special features:
- Audio Commentary – Featuring audio commentary by Sebastian Silva, Kristen Wiig and Tunde Adebimpe
- Nasty Baby: Behind the Scenes – (14:21)A look at the making of the film.
- Photo Gallery
When watching “Nasty Baby”, the film primarily carries itself on a storyline about two gay men and their female friend trying to discuss having a child together.
The difficulties of the gay couple in the perception of those who look down on them, may it be their mentally unstable neighbor, the Bishop or even Mo’s parents, who are not keen about the idea of the men trying to help Polly bring a child to the world.
And as the film also tries to show Freddy trying to develop his film “Nasty Baby” which feature he and friends crying like babies, I thought the film would be predictable as it seemed as if the film was about prejudice or the lack of understanding of a homosexual couple and why would they help their friend Polly in trying to conceive a child.
I imagined that the film was about homophobia and the bond between these friends, but somehow the film manages to pull the rug underneath you and transforms from a comedy/drama to something more darker (which I don’t want to spoil for anyone).
While the film had some interesting moments, I thought the premise of Freddy trying to create a film about him and others as babies and crying and trying to promote the work as art to a gallery owner was trying to make the film lean towards a comedy.
But whether or not audiences will enjoy the transition from comedy to something quite macabre, will be subjective. While those wanting something different and unexpected, may find the film’s transition to comedy to something more darker, as a fresh pace for its storyline.
The DVD for the most part looks as good as one can expect on DVD. And you also get a few special features and an entertaining audio commentary with Sebastian Silva, Kristen Wiig and Tunde Adebimpe. And through the “making of”, you learn how the film pretty much utilizes improvisation by the cast.
But unfortunately, “Nasty Baby” suffers from a bland storyline. For the majority of the film, you wonder if the film is primarily all about whether or not a woman will get pregnant with her friend’s sperm or how gay men must deal with people who disapprove of their lifestyle. The film changes its tone a little late in the film and becomes a different film entirely. I found the films transition from its comedy to a darker film, to actually be much more entertaining and eventually ends up saving the film by taking a risk and giving viewers something they’ll never expect to see coming.
