Labor Pains

Labor Pains has quietly become one of the more dependable comedies currently available in the US on Amazon Prime Video and fuboTV. It knows exactly what kind of film it is from the opening scene, and never loses that thread. 450 viewers have already rated it on TMDB — the kind of consensus that does not happen by accident. Lindsay Lohan leads a cast with real comic timing. Start it on Amazon Prime Video whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

Part of the current wave of titles people are actually watching, Labor Pains earns its spot. The jokes in Labor Pains land because the characters underneath them are worth caring about. A young woman pretends to be pregnant in order to avoid being fired from her job. When that gets her a bunch of special treatment by everyone involved in her life, she tries to keep up the lie for nine months. Lindsay Lohan and Luke Kirby lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 2009. The real test of any comedy is whether it is still funny once you know all the jokes, and Labor Pains holds up on rewatch in a way that separates it from one-off curiosities. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Comedy fans looking for a reliably funny watch will find it in Labor Pains. It rewards viewers regardless of what else is in their watch history. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Lindsay Lohan's comic timing carries it through its weaker moments. The kind of comedy you recommend to someone who claims they do not watch much.