Pamela Adlon has been working steadily since the 1980s—she was in Grease 2 AND Say Anything… AND she inspired the Toto song “Pamela”!—but she broke out in the 2010s as a writer and actor on Louie, Louis CK’s hit TV series, at least until he was revealed as the comedy perv jacking off in front of female comics.
By that time, though, Adlon had her own TV series, Better Things, which, yes, boasted Louis as a co-creator and producer, but was Adlon’s brainchild, inspired by her own life as a divorced mom of three girls. Now, she is making her feature directorial debut with Babes, a comedy about babymaking and coming of age.
Babes is co-written by Ilana Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz, and stars Glazer and Michelle Buteau. It’s about two best friends, one a new mom, one a surprised mom-to-be, dealing with friendship and parenthood, and, I assume, poop (babies poop SO MUCH). It looks like the other side of the coin as Obvious Child, Gillian Robespierre’s film starring Jenny Slate which is also about a surprise pregnancy, albeit with a different conclusion. I am always glad to see alums of Broad City thriving, but I am especially always glad to see Michelle Buteau thriving, she’s HILARIOUS. She’s one of those performers, whether she’s doing standup or proper acting, just her expressions kill me. The look on her face when Ilana’s character says, “You think I can do this, right?” is PERFECT. It’s an entire monologue in one glance.
The rest of the cast is great, too, from adult twins Kenny and Keith Lucas, to Stephan James, to Hasan Minhaj, to Oliver Platt, to John Carroll Lynch not playing a psycho for once, this is a great group. I’m always down for whatever Ilana Glazer is cooking up, I’m always here for Michelle Buteau, so I am fully on board with Babes already. But I am especially here for Filmmaker Pamela Adlon. Louis CK always got too much credit for her success, and I am happy to see her booked, busy, and thriving out of his shadow.
