Baby (2000) User Reviews

better take a cold shower

[Fiona-39 · 30 October 2001]

Wheeew! Well this is a film that takes you inside the head of a 15 year old (ish - it's my guess) boy, so yes it is pretty obsessed with sex. I caught it late on channel four last night and wished I'd managed to record it because you just know you aren't going to see anything as unusual, as hypnotic, as suggestive, as intriguing and as enticing for a while. And it's a real treat to get a short to revel in. Somehow, because your attention span is not stretched in the same way, you can just let images and sounds wash over you without worrying about plot or character too much. This basically follows a boy's day at the local swimming pool, as he recalls it later lying in bed doing the obvious things boys lying in bed do (smoking pot and w***ing if you must know). But it's beautifully done, witty, suggestive and sensual. As the director himself said, "It's not about being gay or straight, it's about the pleasures of the flesh." It certainly is.

Provocative and experimental

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 18 November 2015]

"Baby" is an 11.5-minute short film from almost 15 years ago. The writer and director is a man who goes by the pseudonym of "W.I.Z." and has never made another film again. I cannot say this bothers me too much as all I watched here was only intended to be controversial, but did not leave a memorable impact at all, especially in terms of the sexual scenes like a group of girls masturbating on the main character. Thumbs up to the director though for casting a certain Ben Whishaw very early in his career. He is a big star now, appears in films loved by critics and blockbusters like "Skyfall" and "Spectre". It was certainly not his fault that "Baby" turned out fairly forgettable. All in all, not a good watch. thumbs down.

Hypnotic

[heywood100 · 8/10 · 20 May 2003]

There is next to nothing in the way of a story contained in Baby. The film is based almost exclusively around the hypnotic visuals and sound, and it is very effective. Some of the shots set outside the swimming pool are a bit cliched (the pot smoking), yukky (the womans armpit hair - ugh!), or just plain indecipherable (the women in the street hitting him with inflatable phalluses), but when the boy goes swimming it's hard to tear your eyes away. It's a very sexual piece and offers no concrete questions or answers for anything but it's certainly worth a few minutes of your time.

Synopsis

[plumbweiss · 3 November 2004]

Beautifully shot, this short film is set in flashback: Our main character Joe is a pretty youth in his late teens who is lying on his bed in his boxers pleasuring himself. The film constantly cuts back to his day out at the swimming pool whose images and sounds provide the stimulus for his bedroom activity. The production is superb in every way, attention to each shot is evident and even the sounds of the echoing pool and glug of the water are brilliantly recorded. It's also a study of confused or ambiguous teenage sexuality: Joe is turned on alternately by his memory of a fit young male springboard diver, a young lady swimmer, guys showering off and the armpit of an Asian female newsagent!

Interesting but not much cop really

[bob the moo · 8 June 2002]

A teenage boy finds all around him has sexual overtones as he lives a teenage life of drugs and masturbation.

Not quite sure what the point was here. Is this based on the directors experiences? If so then why didn't it have more detail or direction to it. Instead we have a 10 minute w**k. The main character lies on his bed taking hits from his bong and thinking over things such as men and women's bodies at the pool etc while he…..well…..gets off.

And that's it! Some parts seem to hint at deeper meaning but none deliver it. The only clever bit is the title sequence that focus on a stomach making us think this is about a real baby only to pull down to the boy's underwear. However after this it's just the dull fantasies of a teenage boy.

The lead is good but he doesn't have much to do. Overall this is interesting but it never gets deeper than that. If you want to see everyday things come into a boy's sexual fantasizes then it's worth a watch.

fascinating

[Kirpianuscus · 18 September 2016]

almost a documentary about the confusion of an age, it has two great virtues - Ben Whishaw and the right manner to use a delicate theme. story of a wake up, it is a cocktail of images, sounds, impressions and suggestions. an exploration of himself, around a swimming pool , who has as axis sexuality but , more important, the right understanding of reality. for many ex-teenagers, the film is real interesting not exactly as slice of memory but as trip in the air of a period who remains basis for assume adulthood. for other, under Peter Pan syndrome, the film preserves the feelings of first step to discover yourself blocked in time. Ben Whishaw , from the Perfume, is the most inspired choice for translate the fight against yourself for conquer the truth. the sensibility and the fascinating manner to give the force of the small details are bricks of this beautiful film.