Main Cast: Victoria Foyt, Matt Salinger, Dinah Lenney, Eric Roberts, Frances Fisher
Release Year: 1994
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
In this semi-improvised comic drama from maverick filmmaker Henry Jaglom, Gena (Victoria Foyt) is a businesswoman starting to creep into middle age. She thinks she might be pregnant, and she isn't sure how she feels about it: she wants to have children, and her body's clock is starting to tick rather loudly, but she's uncertain if this is the right time to start a family. Just as important, she's not sure who the father is, and she is torn between the two suspects. James (Matt Salinger) is sweet, stable, and a little boring, while Anthony (Eric Roberts) is exciting but arrogant and not terribly dependable. While Gena waits to hear from her doctor about the results of her pregnancy test, she attends a baby shower for one of her co-workers, where the women discuss their feelings about having children -- some want them, some don't, some aren't sure. Meanwhile, the hostess throwing the shower has her own problems; her husband is deep in debt and may have to sell their house to pay his bills. Jaglom co-wrote Babyfever with his wife (and star) Foyt -- appropriately enough, not long after the couple had their second child. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
This excessively talky fictionalized documentary from director Henry Jaglom follows in the same vein as his Eating in 1991, only this time the topic is babies. The program is exhausting, using a rightfully bare plot as an excuse for an endless discussion on the issue of motherhood. The subject of giving birth is rarely investigated in films, considering how often it happens and what an impact it has on the human experience. However, Babyfever hardly offers a well-rounded debate on the position of American women and their relationship to their wombs. This one-sided party film gathers Jaglom's typical ensemble cast of wealthy neurotics, this time obsessed with their biological clocks interfering with their high-powered careers. Historically, this film is an important document as an example of the personal-is-political kind of material. There is certainly merit in focusing on the experience of contemporary women as members of the public work force as well as at-home breeders. Unfortunately, this rambling movie could have been more interesting if the subjects were from a broader background, representing more than just stereotypical responses. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
