I had been looking forward to “Baby Mama” ever since I saw the first preview, so I couldn’t wait to see it this week for my review. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler team up again for this comedy about modern day baby-making. In a time when an increasing number of women are opting to pursue alternate methods to enter the world of parenting, i.e. in vitro fertilization, adoption and even surrogates, it’s only fitting that Hollywood would eventually broach the topic. What better way is there, then, than a comedy starring two of the funniest women on TV.

Since Fey left “Saturday Night Live” and the Weekend Update desk after the 2005-06 season, I’ve missed the Poehler-Fey dynamic. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled Fey left SNL. Now I get to watch her in one of the best shows on TV, the Fey-created “30 Rock.” Only, there is a certain charm to Fey and Poehler’s relationship that I miss seeing on screen.

So, when I found out they would be starring together in a new comedy, I found myself counting down the weekends, and hoping I wouldn’t be disappointed.

Fey plays Kate Holbrook, a successful business woman who has put her career ahead of her personal life for years. Now that she’s 37, and the youngest vice president at Round Earth Foods, she finds herself finally ready for motherhood. The only problem is she’s single and, as it turns out, extremely unlikely to get pregnant – her doctor gives her a one-in-a-million chance.

So, with adoption being nearly impossible for a single woman, Kate turns to Chaffee Bicknell (Sigourney Weaver) to help her out. Chaffee runs a surrogacy service, matching wannabe mamas with women who need the extra cash.

That’s where Poehler’s Angie Ostrowiski comes into the picture. Angie, a South Philly working girl, is an unlikely match for Kate, a driven individual with high-quality tastes. So when the pair agree to match up for the surrogate pregnancy, it’s no surprise that awkward situations and hilarity follow.

Casting director Avy Kaufman deserves props for who she lined up in this film. Greg Kinnear plays Rob, a small business owner who Kate begins to fall for, while Dax Shepard (you know that guy who got his start on MTV’s “Punk’d”) plays Angie’s hilariously low-class boyfriend Carl. Perhaps the biggest kudos for the film’s humor element, other than to comedic geniuses Poehler and Fey, should go to Steve Martin as Barry, the new-agey Round Earth founder and all-around nut-case. Martin, also a former SNL cast member, is bizarre and hilarious in this role and it brings to mind his role in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” as Freddy Benson.

“Baby Mama” isn’t a straight-up comedy, however. The film is funny and will keep you smiling and chuckling throughout, but there is also a lot more going on between the laughs. The film acknowledges the hardships infertile women face and challenges the negative view of single moms.

I also will give writer/director Michael McCullers credit for throwing me off half-way through the film with an unexpected twist in the story.

Fey and Poehler are as good together as I remembered, and it’s great to see two funny women carry a movie together.

I think that I will enjoy “Baby Mama” even more upon a second viewing, but I want to warn the guys that this is definitely a film geared toward women. So ladies, you might want to make this one a girls’ night out.

***1/2

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