Nobody's Baby

Caught this on cable last night and loved it - how can you not love a film that has (a nearly-unrecognizable) Gary Oldman playing Buford Dill, yer basic sadsack Southern petty criminal with a rectal problem which causes him to go through a lot of Chapstick? (This must be seen to be appreciated.) One of the funniest and endearing characterizations of his brilliant career. And Skeet Ulrich, who rescues and slowly becomes irreparably attached to the baby of the title, is thoroughly believable as well. If you watch it, make sure you stay through the end titles, which feature Oldman and Mary Steenburgen line-dancing. (PS: The baby is adorable too.)

At first I was thrown for a loop. Was this the Gary Oldman I had grown to love watching "A State of Grace" or "Leon the Professional" NOPE! It was that other side, the side we rarely see of this gifted actor. Add to that Skeet Ulrich and the two make a good..yes...comedic team. It wasn't a "Dumb" as Dumber and Dumber" but it had some of that "dumbness" to it! The premise here has been seen before, a little baby cared for by hapless guys who have their hands full! But the twists we get with Oldman and Ulrich not to mention great characters portrayed by class actors and actresses here makes the film a sure thing. Now it took me the first 30 minutes to get a feel for this movie but it gets going. I just wasn't sure how to take the Oldman and Ulrich characters...but it finally flowed for me and was well worth the watch.

I wasn't expecting much from this but it was actually pretty good. It's one of those tasteless, dark comedies, with loser characters and goofball situations; following two escaped cons who try to make money off of an orphaned infant that one of them rescues from a fatal accident.

Skeet Ulrich plays the slightly more intelligent of the two, I wish he would get more roles because I always enjoy him and while I couldn't stand Gary Oldman's character (and may never be able to use Chapstick again) he does an amazing job here, almost unrecognizable. Good supporting cast too and a basically fun story.

Nobody's Baby is a genuine sleeper!

I rented this having never heard of the film and going solely with my gut that Oldman would not disappoint. He doesn't. He turns in one of his most original and unexpected performances in this small but hilarious film. Knowing I'd be watching it again, I went out and found a new copy for $5!!!

A huge surprise came in the performance of Billy by Skeet Ulrich. Taking a fairly bland character and making him come alive, with the added job of having to play straight man to Oldman's over-the-top Buford, could not have been easy. Ulrich shows his acting chops and creates an instantly likeable goon. You find yourself immediately routing for the not-too-bright little bumpkin. When one realizes that he's the smarter of these pair of life-long friends and minor criminals there's little wonder that they've spent half their lives in jail. (One touching "tell" is when, along with the baby of the title Billy is asked to take have a picture snapped he automatically turns for a standard profile mug shot. Nice touches like abound throughout the film.)

A veritable smorgasbord of an ensemble is featured in the trailerpark misfits who adopt Billy and his new baby; Radha Mitchell; Mary Steenburgen, Gordon Tootoosis, Anna Gunn and the resident bad guy, Peter Green. Even two small – but very important roles are filled by no less than Ed O'Neil and Matthew Modine!

Ulrich's Billy cements the entire film narrating as a series of letters to his precious "Little One" relating the tale of how she one day came into his life and changed his world and saved him.

While this is for the most part a gentle comedy, it is punctuated with a little violence, brief nudity and some truly black comedy (such as how Billy gets his new baby) which has evidently disturbed some viewers of the film. (Personally I found these dark moments hilarious.) Ultimately a very heartwarming and uplifting picture. I ended up buying the thing. Oh, yeah: stick around for the credits and watch Mary Steenburgen and Gary Oldman do a little line dancin' together . . . it's a hoot!

I sort of stumbled on this cruisin' through the Sundance Channels...I noticed via the "info" option on my digital cable service that Gary Oldman starred...and I immediately became interested. I wouldn't of noticed Oldman, due to the fact that he's totally unrecognizable playing an over the top, low class, unintelligent thief with a thick southern drawl. It's worth watching this movie solely for his portrayal...'cause you really won't see another character played so well. And, I'm talking in the leagues of Hoffman in "Rainman", Day-Lewis in "Gangs of NY", and yes even Winslet in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". I haven't even got into the rest of the strong cast of Mary Steenburgen,Skeet Ulrich, and Radha Mitchell. Although this picture is eccentrically humorous...it does a great job covering all the genres love, drama, adventure and even sadness. I walked away thinking "I'm glad I watched that."