Search - Obvious Child on DVD

B.J. W. (analogkid01) from CHICAGO, IL
Reviewed on 7/5/2025...

"Obvious Child," the 2014 film by Gillian Robespierre, is a very simple story: girl meets boy, girl fucks boy, girl gets pregnant, girl gets an abortion. That's pretty much it. It's based on a 23-minute short film which I have not seen, but I imagine it's better in its original short form.

The problem is that Obvious Child *feels* like a short film that's been stretched to an 84-minute feature. Scenes last for far too long without any appreciable advancement of the plot or character arcs. The relationships are believable - from the boy she barely knows, to her best friend/roommate, to her muppet-making dad, who is divorced from her college professor mother, but that's about the only aspect of the film that doesn't feel forced. The most egregious example of an unnecessary scene is an extended sequence where Sam (a wasted David Cross) takes Donna (Jenny Slate) back to his place with the intention of seducing her, despite the revelation that he's tried this before and she rejected him then just as she'll reject him again this time around. The scene doesn't reveal anything about Donna, or her situation, or her decision to get an abortion. It's just pointless and feels like it was put in just because they had access to David Cross and wanted to give him something to do.

Which is not to say the film itself is pointless. The film smartly avoids any political (e.g. "Citizen Ruth," which is a pretty good movie) or sentimental (e.g. "Juno," which is not) approaches to the subject of abortion; a woman makes her decision and that's that, no debate necessary or requested. The conflict revolves around how and when Donna will inform her "it's complicated" mate Max (Jake Lacy) about the situation and her decision. Donna's a comic so she makes the reasonable decision to inform him one night at the dive bar during her stand-up act.

And really, this is how a movie about abortion in an ideal world *should* be. Minimal conflict, no debate, just a woman making a choice and moving on with her life. There's a neat little shot near the end of four women sitting in a recovery room in a clinic; they exchange no dialogue, just a common understanding of their situation and smiles of mutual support.

Grade: straight C

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 5/9/2024...

Obvious sick garbage!

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