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BABYMOTHER Send This Review to a Friend
The story is hackneyed, but what makes "Babymother" of interest is the performance of Anjela Lauren Smith as Anita, a struggling mother who wants to become a singer, and the reggae dance hall music that goes along with the ambition. The setting is the Harlesden area of London, a center for Caribbean immigrants and their music. Smith has striking looks and screen presence and she makes the film appealing to watch just to focus on her.
Anita and her two girlfriends frequent the local dance emporiums and team as a trio, but their future is blocked by Byron (Wil Johnson), the father of Anita's two children and an egotistical reggae star who frowns on their talent and only sees his own. Anita often leaves her children with the woman she assumes is her mother, who is tried of taking responsibility. There are other domestic complications and one surprise revealed along the way.
The film, written and directed by Julian Henriques, veers between soap opera and melodrama, wit cliches of the fight for musical success thrown in. It is one of those films that thrive more on atmosphere and cast rather than story. An Independent Pictures/Fine Line release.
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