My wife wanted to see the film Sorry, Baby. I’d seen the trailer thrice, but I couldn’t get a feel for what the film was about other than Agnes (Eva Victor) being REALLY happy to see her good friend Lydie (Naomi Ackie) when Lydie visited their college town from New York City. Lydie is a generous friend.
At first, you don’t know why Agnes is so stuck. This is a function of the fact that the five main sections are not presented in chronological order. Eventually, a significant event—not shown on screen—is revealed, and one begins to understand her dealing with her trauma as best she can.
At the same time, she becomes a popular young professor. She’s so well-regarded that one of her frenemies, Natasha (Kelly McCormack), is practically stalking her.
The film also stars Louis Cancelmi as her professor/mentor, Preston Decker; John Carroll Lynch as the helpful stranger, Pete; and Lucas Hedges, whom I have seen in a few films, as Gavin, the neighbor.
I fear some viewers might be bored by the slow pacing, but it is clever enough to recommend. Of those trailers I’d previously seen, some were laugh-out-loud funny when I saw them in the film. I didn’t understand the movie title until the final section.
I learned that Eva Victor, born in Paris but raised in San Francisco, is an American comedian who garnered fame by posting funny videos on Twitter. Sorry, Baby was her film debut as both writer and director.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the critics were 96% positive, and the audiences were 83% positive. The IMDb summary was that the movie ” carried off difficult subject matter with a light touch and wry sense of humor.” This is accurate.
