The Donor Party

source: The Donor Party

In cheap, lame, forgettable, wannabe #metoo-comedy "The Donor Party" Malin Akerman (Cameron Diaz-lite) is desperate to get pregnant before it's too late, so friends Bria Henderson & Erinn Hayes (decent again) set her up with various one night stands: all at the birthday party of the latter's unknowing husband (Rob Corddry) at their swanky home with guests including Ryan Hansen, Jerry O'Connell, Jeff Torres (amusing), Cedric Yarbrough, Jon Daly & Dan Ahdoot. What could possibly go wrong? Throw in a clichéd accidental roofying (really?) and it's clear the level debut writer / director Thom Harp was shooting his load at - and sadly he stoops down to hit it.

The lead actresses is a woman in her last years of fertility trying to get pregnant. There is a lot of potential to explore her connection with babies, her commitment to being a mom and her search for a decent partner. The only emphasis was on the partner. The plot and the characters introduction were rushed and I didn't have time to connect to Jaclyn. After few minutes the movie turned into a collection of short romcom episodes. The characters and themes in the movie weren't evolving during these intimate encounters, in fact you can replace the order of encounters and the movie would look the same. The ending was rushed as well since the random encounters filled the whole time. This is a movie, it is a collection of short episodes that have 10 minutes of introduction and conclusion. I also enjoyed the movie- the scenarios were funny and some of them had moral and insight (mostly from the antagonist though). I was laughing and enjoying the movie and simultaneously rooting for the antagonist. The protagonist herself didn't do any self reflection besides the last few minutes of the movie, and she was lying and manipulating the partners, including intentionally sabotaging birth control accessories. Jaclyn has no remorse throughout the movie and I found it really hard to have empathy towards her. The hospital security guard ask her to move the car out of the ICU entrance and she was being rude to him and showed him the middle finger- that sums up her character. She has no accountability, no remorse, she doesn't care about anything besides herself. I don't enjoy a movie where I dislike the main character.

If you're as big of a fan of Rob Corrdry shows like Childrens Hospital as I am you'll be disappointed here. Despite having the all star comedic cast that we've seen in series like Burning Love and Medical Police, there are no laughs here. Looks like the writer/director has no apparent connection to this group of comedians/actors from before. Not according to his credits so i dont know how he assembled them, only to squander their talents with this hard to watch movie. Its way too serious to come across as comedy, even though its ridiculous at times. I read Medical Police might have a season 2 so let's forget this flick and look for that.

It was an interesting film that brought the desperation of a woman that is losing her battle with time and how that leads to a crazy situation. Overall I thought this film had some funny moments. It is definitely tailored for an adult audience but does not have much of any nudity or graphic scenes. I think it speaks to the heart of the midlife of womanhood and the unapologetic means as to which a woman will go to in order to fulfill herself. Of course this subject is taboo to the society at large as we find it difficult to understand how someone could go outside of the norms to have a child, but that is what movies are for. They explore the extremes and add comedy to them. If you have 90 minutes for a light, funny, and thought provoking film I would suggest to give this a try. I don't think this got a fair shake.

Good ol' reliable Admiral Ackbar predicted this one decades ago, and yet, here we are. A woman whose biological time-bomb is running out is desperate to have a baby, yet failed to establish a proper relationship in time. What an idiotic premise for a comedy movie, when baby-trapping and false paternity claims are rampant in today's society. Good cast, for the most part, wasted on a terrible script. Hopefully. They got compensated enough to be in this embarrassment. I wonder how funny Thom Harp (the writer) would find it if it turned out that one or more of his three kids weren't actually his? Ha ha, right?

Let me tell you, not every female protagonist has to be a likable or good person. I look at Jaclyn as an anti-hero. Her and her friend's plan to get knocked up by a man so she can be a mom is obviously a terrible thing to do to a guy but she's a character who sees her time running out and without the resources to pursue other reproductive avenues, they come up with a hair brained scheme and from a god's eye view, yes it's a bad idea, but that is what the conflict is. Through this plan and party the girlfriends who concocted the plan are exploring their own love lives and relationships and it was a hilarious ride. I laughed from start to finish. The comedy is fresh and paced really well. I enjoyed all the guys in the story as well. All except Jerry OcConnell's character but he's the heal of the story so he plays his part well! I loved Molly as well, she was the heart of the story. I loved the movie and I am a woman and it's ok for the female protagonist is flawed.

The whole idea of the movie was wrong in the first place. A woman tricking guys into impregnating her is a pretty horrifying idea. Who in there right mind would think that's ok. It maybe had potential to give a few laughs with the shagging shenanigans but it fell pretty much face first on itself. It's ashame. It had some talented actors but being in a movie like this couldn't do much for them. Even for downing a bottle of vodka whilst watching it couldn't even make it funner to watch. I don't know. Who writes this sh@ t! Haha was nothing short of horrendous! Save yourself! Don't watch! Hmmm review still not long enough.... I really emphasis don't watch. Very bad movie!

Why is it they can't seem to make a funny movie anymore? The storyline was basically ripped off from the Jennifer Aniston movie, The Switch (perhaps the reason for incorporating her name into this story?). This has some funny parts, but overall it was just a poorly-written dud. The only part I actually laughed at was Jerry O'Connel touching Malin's face. In fact, Jerry surprised me that he had the ability to have a comedic moment. Overall, it often felt contentious and tense; it was like watching a party where you definitely would want to leave early. So many cringy moments with bad lines and stupidity. They couldn't even get the ending right.

Good ol' reliable Admiral Ackbar predicted this one decades ago, and yet, here we are. A woman whose biological time-bomb is running out is desperate to have a baby, yet failed to establish a proper relationship in time. What an idiotic premise for a comedy movie, when baby-trapping and false paternity claims are rampant in today's society. Good cast, for the most part, wasted on a terrible script. Hopefully. They got compensated enough to be in this embarrassment. I wonder how funny Thom Harp (the writer) would find it if it turned out that one or more of his three kids weren't actually his? Ha ha, right?