My wife and I were resisting seeing Obvious Child but two things broke down our resolve. First, it was hanging on at Angelika for weeks and weeks, still drawing large crowds of hip, excited New Yorkers, almost as if word had gotten out in some fashion; this in itself is of course not full-proof evidence that it’s a decent film – New Yorkers did the same thing last year at IFC for that wretched piece of shit Francis Ha. But then we noticed in the lobby of Angelika a short, poster-board review of Obvious Child which had a very strange and provocative piece of its text printed in bold type: referring to the film’s star Jenny Slate, the bolded text said “her hair is phenomenal”. Naturally this made Obvious Child irresistible, and the very next day we were in there watching it.

Obvious Child was way better than either of us thought it would be. The film managed to build a very sweet love story around an abortion, as well as unabashedly advancing the idea that abortion is a good thing, both for individuals and for society. The attitude toward abortion is extraordinarily sane, and there is not one single jerk in the movie talking about “murder”. This take some guts, as well as a good deal of skill, to pull off as well as they did. I didn’t find the film hilarious, but it is extremely cute and enjoyable, and did have many funny moments. What I liked best about it was that it was not the same old recycled comedic crap that is regularly pumped out of the Hollywood bilge pipe. The story and the dialog, while not spectacularly innovative, are well-written, fresh, diverting, and fun to experience. Jenny Slate gives a wonderful and very natural performance, and my wife and I agreed that her hair was indeed “phenomenal” throughout the entire movie, which is a undeniable bonus.

I totally recommend Obvious Child. It’s a lot of fun, and very sweet.