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.

Sydney (Brian Klugman) is a single actor who is too much in his head. A friend urges, nearly forces, him to approach a woman in the park, and that is how me meets Sunny (Adrianne Palicki), a bartender with dreams of being a recognized artist. She is attractive, fun-loving, kind, almost perfect, so Sydney's self-doubts kick in, and he wonders if he deserves her. Will he just lose her?

Klugman--the writer, director, actor-uses internal monologues and "stories" to illustrate the concerns of daters, like how much baggage is too much. Sydney, who is reminiscent of a neurotic Woody Allen character, digs too much and overreacts to minor issues. Losing a major relationship can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, which Sydney knows, but he cannot help himself.

This film delves into relationship issues. It is a tragic-comedic exploration that reveals little new ground, but Klugman and Palicki are fun to watch, so I can recommend it to most who like rom-coms.

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.

Neurotic, insecure, redheaded men are rarely amusing to watch, which is why I generally avoid Woody Allen films. I now know to also avoid Brian Klugman films.

Klugman, as writer/director/neurotic-insecure-redheaded-star-of-film-about-self is apparently Woody Allen 2.0, right down to his inclusion of a plethora of A-list cameos from celebrity friends joining in for the hell of it.

There are some interesting ideas here, and one or two mildly amusing scenes, but by and large this film is masturbation and self-absorbed public flagellation with a semi-decent budget.

Although never downright depressing, this is far from a feel-good film, and the bittersweet ending is way more bitter than sweet. Avoid if you need cheering up. It's not a rom-com; it's therapy-by-filmmaking.

I was lucky enough to catch this movie at the Austin Film Festival--and I can't recommend it enough. It's funny, touching, tender--with a great central story and really amazing cameos including Bradley Cooper, William Shatner and even Lane from Mad Men!

Brian Klugman--who wrote and directed the movie--plays the lead and he's both really funny and heartbreaking as writer who falls in love with Sonny, a painter played by Adrianne Palicki-- (who I've been obsessed with since Friday Night Lights). Can't say enough about their great but realistic chemistry and we follow the twists and turns of their relationship.

I also really loved how Sydney's short stories come alive and make some really great points about life and love.

Don't want to say much more or spoil anything else so I'll just say catch this one when you can-- you won't be sorry!