BABY MAMA [PG-13]

Tina Fey has carved out a niche as the most endearing comical everywoman since Mary Tyler Moore tossed her hat into the air. But while Moore was never quite able to break out of that mold, Fey has additional trick up her sleeve — she can just write characters for herself.

Fey has proven a capable writer and actress on television in “30 Rock” and film as a teacher in Mean Girls. Now trying to show how that she could be a marquee name she is headlining the new comedy Baby Mama with old friend Amy Poehler.

Fey plays a variation of the same persona she plays on television. This time however, she plays a Whole Foods-esque executive named Kate who has always put her career before her personal life. But now at 37, she is hearing her biological clock ticking and decides that she wants to have a baby even though she is single. After failed attempts at in vitro, she hires unlikely surrogate Angie (Poehler) to carry her baby.

In this odd couple, Fey is the straight-man to Poehler’s bombastic underachiever. Having seen the two pal around on “Saturday Night Live” for years, it is not a hard sell to get people to come see a movie re-teaming the two. But while the chemistry between the women is as evident as it ever was on that show, the two of them seem to just to be falling into their comfort zone and walking through blindly at times.

We have seen Poehler play the same type of character so often that it’s begun to get tiring to watch, even grating at times. For the majority of the film, she has only two gears — the quiet moments and those when she is just exploding everywhere. Unlike Fey, Poehler doesn’t do subtlety well and seems in need of Ritalin at times. While it’s true we have seen Fey play the same type of character on both the big and small screens, she is able to be charming enough that it doesn’t get old. Likeability and charm are Fey’s greatest asset as an entertainer; even when she is doing something that is out of character, we go along for the ride because we are drawn to her and want to see what will happen.

Written and directed by former SNL writer Michael McCullers specifically for the duo, Baby Mama delivers with some laughs. Instead of delivering a female buddy film, it veers into chick film territory too many times, and that makes for an uneven comedic tone. Both Fey and Poehler are accomplished comedians and deserve better than just another film that at times is as schmaltzy as any romantic comedy you’ll see this year.

When the film isn’t suffering from schmaltz overload, it is overtly predictable. While the basic premise itself hasn’t been done too many times, the ending is so neatly wrapped up that only Hollywood could give it to us, so sweet that those in the front rows will end up with cavities.

Along with a see-through plot, the supporting cast member’s talents are wasted. Veteran actors Steve Martin, Holland Taylor, Sigourney Weaver and Maura Tierney are all minimized in screen time, only popping up every so often before vanishing again. Except for Martin’s New Age organic grocer, none of their characters are limited in depth to merely the roles they play in Kate’s life.

Even being saddled with a sub-par script like with Baby Mama, it’s good to see Fey and Poehler team up together. Because the film falls into the “cute” category, all will be forgiven if their next film is better. Let’s just hope that it’s laugh-out-loud funny and not just smirkworthy. In fact, here’s a novel idea: why don’t they team up and also write the film. What better way for Fey to prove that she is more than just an updated version of Mary Tyler Moore and get her own identity?••• –Padraic Maroney