Maybe Baby was released in 2000. It was written and directed by Ben Elton. It is the story of Sam (Hugh Laurie) and Lucy Bell (Joely Richardson). They are a couple who are trying for a baby and not having much luck at it. The opening sequences show them as a loving well rounded sort of couple. Sam works for the BBC tweaking other people’s television and movie scripts. He has a desperate longing to write one of his own.

When Sam and Lucy finally face their apparent infertility they seek professional help. As you would expect this is when things start to fall apart. Things are not helped when Sam comes up with the brilliant plan of writing about their struggle and developing it as a screenplay. He proceeds to do this without telling Lucy about it. Things disintegrate accordingly and along all the lines you would expect them to. Psychosomatic symptoms such as a raging case of psoriasis develop as the desperate madness ensues.

This movie takes a positively unflinching look at the world of infertility and the things that people will go through in the name of procreation. Be prepared to laugh and to cry. There is a particularly poignant scene where Lucy is hanging on the fence of a school yard and a portion of her journal is read. It speaks eloquently about the mourning of the death of a million little dreams that is infertility. In happy contrast there is the sweetest duet between man and Basset Hound that I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. Hugh Laurie and the cutest darn dog you have ever seen do a blues inspired sing-a-long. You will be rewinding this...I promise you that you will.

The cast of this movie makes it worth owning. It is a positive who’s who of British comedy. Joanna Lumley was a delight to see. I am only familiar with her as Patsy in Ab Fab. I never understood a word of that show but loved the chain smoking muss- haired vodka swilling pair. It was odd to be able to make out what she was saying without the help of rewind. I kept waiting for her to light up and burn the kitchen down. Rowan Atkinson was there too. There is something psychologically scarring about the vision of Mr. Bean as a Gynecologist. Just…Shudder. Tom Hollander who plays the Scottish director is a real scene stealer. He had me spewing cola from my nose in one particular scene during a conversation about hypodermic needles and oranges. He does flummoxed really well. The Scots accent is delightfully over the top and so much fun to listen to.

The movie received luke-warm reviews upon its release. I agree that it is not exactly Oscar worthy but it is a lovely little distraction. As always our Hugh hits his mark and comes off brilliantly. You do get to see another side…and top…and bottom…of him. This one is worth coughing up the money for.

Cyndi’s pick for Most Rewindable Scene is of course man and dog singing “Sperm Test in the Morning Blues”

So delectably cute... I promise you!