| Kinda Pregnant is the type of premise that is just so wrong that it can be hard to stay with the humour. Faking a pregnancy for months while having real relationships with people who only know lies is obviously insane. So insane that this person should probably not be a functioning member of society. The movie does make it clear that Amy Schumer’s Lainey is insane, multiple characters call her that throughout the movie. | | 2025
Directed by: Tyler Spindel
Screenplay by: Julie Paiva, Amy Schumer
Starring: Amy Schumer, Jillian Bell, Will Forte and Brianne Howey
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If you can get past that premise, is it funny? It mostly is. While a lot of the jokes are somewhat predictable; as in what random object nearby is she going to stick up her shirt to fake a pregnancy belly, or the continuing joke that she got pregnant on Thanksgiving at a Black Friday-eve pre-sale, the outcomes are often funny.
It gets a little dicier when they try to balance the insane premise with a more thoughtful and serious theme. It’s easy enough to see why Lainey started the whole fake pregnancy, but it gets harder when they go for a nice and easy sweet ending. At times, you definitely have to consider if this would work better as a dark comedy rather than an easy-going romantic comedy.
Lainey has been dreaming about being a mother since she was a little kid, and now her best friend Kate (Jillian Bell) announces she’s pregnant just when Lainey is forced to break up with her insane boyfriend (Damon Wayans Jr). Driven entirely by loneliness (but also the fact that she’s insane and surrounded by a lot of insane people like Urzila Carlson), Lainey pops in a fake belly and joins a mom group. Brianne Howey as new pregnant friend Megan does really good work to try and keep the insanity grounded.
As far as romantic comedies go, you can’t get much better than Will Forte as the love interest. Their meet cute involving a Starbucks, fake names, and matching Old Navy sweatsuits, is funny. There’s also a really touching moment when he admits to falling for her, and Lainey first wants to keep her distance since you know he thinks she’s pregnant when she’s not, but then recites the Anne Sexton poem The Kiss from memory. It’s a fantastic scene that works surprisingly well in an otherwise silly comedy about in an insane heroine.
The ending tries to follow a standard romantic comedy script, which doesn’t exactly work when trying to balance a ridiculous premise and getting confused by insanity and loneliness. The movie works best when I’m reminded about how much I love Will Forte in romantic comedies, but by the end, we’re reminded that this movie might be best when it's forgotten.
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