Baby, Baby, Baby

Two struggling young artists in Los Angeles.

He's an actor, mostly in commercials; she's a painter, tending bar by night. They meet cute; fall in love; move in together; fall out of love and try to figure out what went wrong.

That's the setup for writer/director Brian Klugman's romantic comedy "Baby Baby Baby."

The multitasking Klugman plays Sydney, the actor, while my fellow Toledo, Ohio, native Adrianne Palicki (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Friday Night Lights) portrays Sunny, the artist. The plot is nothing extraordinary, but both deliver engaging performances.

What is extraordinary? The totally unexpected celebrity cameos!

As Sydney attempts a transition from actor to writer, Klugman offers up three, once-scene vignettes to illustrate his thoughts – each acted out by celebrities. There is an Oscar winner, a cultural icon, an A-list leading man, an enduring beauty, a former comedian/sitcom actor; and a TV president/insurance pitchman. I have no idea how Klugman persuaded them to appear in his indie romcom, though I'm told that if you put in the time in Hollywood and aren't an asshole, you can generate a lot of goodwill.

Kelsey Grammar (Cheers, Frasier) also appears, in more than a cameo, playing a European gallery owner who gives Sunny her big break.

"Baby Baby Baby" is okay romcom with some drama. But it's the brilliantly written, brilliantly funny scenes with the celebrity cameos that put it in the "worth seeing" category.

It is a realistic film about a romance that changes with time. The huge celebrity cameos are striking, and is the highlight for me.

This witty and charming film is funny in smart, slapstick and subtle ways, with sharp insights on relationships and the insecurities that always lurk in the background.

Every few minutes there's another surprise. A procession of A-list actors star in fanciful vignettes throughout the story, a bold director's touch that adds a sort of live-action cartoon element you don't see very often.

Klugman (who also wrote and directed) and Palicki turn in outstanding performances, alternately exhilarated and vulnerable in ways that make the viewer care about them and relate to them.

Highly recommend this heartfelt and hilarious film.

Simple little romantic comedy with a beautiful girl and a hapless suitor. She is attracted to his making her laugh and being sweet. He is attracted to her being gorgeous and sexy ... not to mention talented and smart. (I had to check her name and filmography because she looked so familiar. Turns out I watched Adrianne for years in Friday Night Lights. What a hottie!)

There are surprising cameos by A-list actors in short, hilarious vignettes. (The one with William Shatner was my favorite.)

Their courtship is filled with funny lines and his fantasy short stories about relationships. I laughed and laughed!

All is well until his insecurity kicks in. What makes it so cringe-worthy is the knowledge as the viewer, that unpleasant things will surely happen.

That it ends on a pleasant, believable way seals the deal.

This is a great little movie.

Posted in Austin Film Festival 2015, Reviews, by Evan Dorrycott - November 04, 2015

Someone once said: "Love can change a person the way a parent can change a baby: awkwardly, and often with a great deal of mess." If you've ever loved someone, I mean truly been in love, you can understand and appreciate the experience Baby, Baby, Baby is attempting to provide in this film. We can't control what love does to us, as if you're truly in love, you're truly out of control. Baby, Baby, Baby encapsulates this, with a spectacular original screenplay by writer/director/actor Brian Klugman.

The narrative follows Sydney(Brian Klugman), a man fresh out of a grueling breakup, looking for anything than to put himself in that situation again. That is until he meets Sonny(Adrianne Palicki). The two go out for a drink and, as you can imagine, things get out of control. I can't say enough about how unique the writing style is in this film. This film is unequivocally funny, irresistibly heartwarming, and includes these incredible mini-shorts throughout the film that better express the emotions and state of the relationship the protagonist is experiencing. Throughout this film, you find yourself loving both sides of the relationship, and understanding where each is coming from in their troubles, while hoping it will all work out. Splendid acting in the supporting roles played by Michaela Conlin, Kelsey Grammar, and James Roday do an impeccable job at bringing out the characters within the screenplay.

This film gives you the very real side to love. It throws in your face the truth that we can't control love in any way, rather that love controls us. Although it is rare for me to say this, I loved almost everything about this film. The intellectual writing is something rarely seen, and this film had little, if any, predictability to it. It is worth noting that the last 15 seconds of the film come close to undermining it's whole premise, although that depends on interpretation. All things considered, Brian Klugman truly does it all in this film, and in doing so gives us the best love story we've seen in years.