Cathardincu
Surprisingly incoherent and boring
ActuallyGlimmer
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Freeman
This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.
charlesjcha
This "film" should've been called "First comes Love (for THE Me!)" as it is wrought with nothing but whining, self-indulgent, autobiographical footage, which at no time amounts to anything either compelling, interesting, or stimulating. At one point it seems like she wanted for this to be a token of what some bourgeois, privileged, middle-aged white women "have to" go through in our postmodern, angst-ridden age, but instead she just doubles down on meaningless & uninspired autobiographical trivialities. Another sign of how indulgent & narcissistic she is, the runtime of nearly 2 hours is decidedly excruciating to hear her whine about her First World problems, and how disappointing her pampered, kept life is. As an experiment in masochism, I watched it to the end, to see how consistently she remains committed to failing in this tortuous project, and she succeeds wonderfully in creating an endlessly long stream of pointless self-absorbed narratives about "this is my life." It doesn't even rise to the dreck of YouTube nonsense, as those peoples' channels have actual fans interested in the banalities of their personal lives. Nina Davenport doesn't even amount to that. Why she and HBO thought this could be of any interest to anyone is a mystery I wanted to unravel by disciplining myself to watch it all the way through. Even when she interacts with Jasper at the end, it's STILL all about her and how much of an inconvenience her new living hobby is for her listless lifestyle. Boo hoo. There are zero sympathetic characters of interest, and zero footage worth watching. At no time does this even get accidentally interesting. Hearing her tone of voice as she whines to people she points her camera at (like it's a shotgun), really brings alive how narcissistic the content is. What was the pitch like, "I'm going to whine to people about my insecurities and First World problems and whine to Daddy benefactor at how emotionally detached he was." This is a truly sad relic of the collapse of Western Civilization. That projects like this get green lit, when we've collapsed the ecosystem of the floating rock we all share is beyond crass, it's mind numbing.
contact-11192
I liked the fact that Nina manages to picture very well the concerns of a woman in her 41s being realistic enough to realize that if she really wants to experience the role of a natural mother, then she has to take a decision and it has to be a fast one. I read a comment above debating on why a woman in her 40s is still single. From my point of view the comment proves judgment and criticism building on the hypothesis that is has to be the woman fault for still being single. I choose to stay away from these perspectives because I feel it's the right of every person to take her/his romantic decision, no matter the age. I scored the Documentary with a high score because I felt I was watching a grounded and realistic movie. Yes it might happen to be single in your 40s and still want to be a mother, as it can happen to feel more close to your mother than you felt towards the Dad. This doesn't mean that the relationships cannot change or evolve. And I am stating this because I am sure that how Nina decided to share her perspectives and feelings towards her father, changed something inside him, opened him up and allowed him to see life from different angles. Great Job Nina! I really liked your openness and creativity!
The_late_Buddy_Ryan
Hadn't checked the docs lineup on Netflix for a while (after getting burned by "Jiro Dreams of Sushi"!), but my wife thought this one sounded interesting. It is, and a lot more involving than some of the fiction films we've seen lately. Nina Davenport doesn't have the wit or the storytelling chops of a filmmaker like Ross McElwee, the pioneer of the video diary with voice-over format, but there's so much going on in her life as a single woman, "age 41½," who very much wants to have a baby that the material doesn't need much shaping, and she certainly seems to be putting it all out there. (One subject she's disappointingly reticent on is where the money for all this is coming from….)Judging by pro reviews and other comments, she does come across to some as needy and self-absorbed—someone who's willing to display her dilated cervix (spoiler alert??) on HBO might very well have some issues—but we were impressed by her honesty and bravery. Her stalwart "pregnancy partner" Amy and the friends and helpers she interviews about their experiences are especially thoughtful and articulate; only one (a guy, I'm sorry to say) seems to be playing to the camera. Her filmed conversations with her parents are pretty revealing as well—her late mother charming and empathetic, her father an affable dinosaur who just doesn't get why his videographer daughter didn't end up as a lawyer or a banker like her two brothers.
Salsa Boy
There is almost nothing redeemable about this documentary. It's about a 41-yr old woman who wants a baby out-of-wedlock, her struggles, her attitudes, her family, her path. I don't mean to demean the personal experience of Nina Davenport, but why the @*&! does she think that anyone would be interested in her? In a word, it adds nothing to the viewer's understanding of the issues. What issues? Love and commitment eluded Nina, so she sought a sperm donor, got pregnant, and along the way, we hear every thought, concern, idea, and notion that enters (and exits) her mind. Ideas like "family is difficult". Ideas like "I love my mother and my father is insensitive." Ideas like "labor is painful". Ideas like "I love my child". Ideas like "dating is difficult". I'm mesmerized. How HBO could have funded this two-hour exercise in time-wasting is beyond me. Why not have a documentary about me at the Farmers' Market or going to the dentist, while I'm worried about getting a cavity filled. Again, I appreciate that having a child is a bigger issue, but Ms. Davenport tackles this subject in the most clichéd manner one could imagine.Save yourself two hours. Skip the crap out of this.
