In years to come, when we live in a less uptight society, Obvious Child won't seem like an important film at all. I'm sure in ten, or twenty, or even fifty years it'll still be a very funny film, but it (hopefully) won't be a film that, in 2014, could be seen as making a shocking and dramatic statement. Because, dear reader, Obvious Child is A FILM ABOUT ABORTION.
And, the scandal continues, because not only is Obvious Child a film about abortion, but it is also a rom-com about abortion. "Those damn revolutionaries!" you may cry. "First someone - a woman no less - has the audacity to make a film about abortion, and then they taint the most beloved of cinematic genres with it!" Well, not quite. The abortion subject matter in Obvious Child is treated just how it should be in real life - as a medical procedure that is at times traumatising and thought-provoking, but, in her current situation, what is right for the film's protagonist. And the film is all the more delightful for it.
Obvious Child is, of course, not just about the A word. Being a rom-com, there is of course a lovey-dovey side to the film. Donna, played delightfully by Jenny Slate, has just been "dumped-up-with" by her boyfriend who has, charming guy that he is, been cheating on her with her best friend. After a disastrous stand-up set in which she drunkely vents about the pair, she meets Max, who is pretty much the opposite of her "type". But, several drinks and some dancing to Paul Simon later, they have a one night stand. However, as she keeps running into Max in true rom-com style, she starts to realise that she may actually like him… whilst trying to decide whether or not to tell him that she's pregnant.
What's wonderful about Obvious Child is that, aside from the abortion subject matter, the film is just your average New York rom-com. Except in this film, there are no manic pixie dream girls and creepy nice guys. Donna is a character that feels real and believable - She's like Frances from Frances Ha's crude little sister, or a 21st century Annie Hall. The guy she falls for seems nice, but not perfect. Donna's friends aren't quirky waifs with modelish good looks offering her romantic advice - instead she has Gaby Hoffman, on perfect form as usual, peeing and describing her own pregnancy whilst Donna anxiously waits for her pregnancy test. Obvious Child isn't really trying to be new or revolutionary - instead it just wants to give us a genre that we all know and love, but with characters and situations that viewers may actually be able to connect with.
To summarise, I really can't recommend this film enough. It may not have the beautiful cinematography of Frances Ha, or the quirky group of friends from Girls, but it's just the right combination of crude and sweet to become every bit as successful as each of them. Plus, it's the first of what I hope will be many films not to shy away from the big A, and actually manage to crack some decent jokes about it.
4/5
Grace Barber-Plentie
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