'Babymakers' delivers so-so gags, no heart

"The Babymakers" is the kind of comedy that makes you appreciate Judd Apatow all the more.

This is what happens when emotion and character are sacrificed for jokes, when set pieces are preferred over narrative, when a movie is just a collection of so-so gags.

"The Babymakers" isn't exactly an official Broken Lizard comedy ("Super Troopers," "Beerfest"), but it bears the comedy troupe's hallmarks of goofy gratuity and good-natured slapstick. It's directed by the group's Jay Chadrasekhar (he also appears as a former Indian mobster) and features a number of its members, most notably Kevin Heffernan.

But the film's stars are from far outside the Broken Lizard sphere. Playing a married couple trying, and failing, to have a child are Paul Schneider ("All the Real Girls," "Bright Star") and Olivia Munn (the "Daily Show" correspondent and supporting player on HBO's "The Newsroom").

Both are curious leads for a broad comedy - Schneider because he has definite acting chops (his performance in "All the Real Girls" is a rare combination of tender and funny), and Munn because she's almost distractingly stunning.

They have decent chemistry, though, as a couple bonded by a shared, casual lewdness. A theoretically shocking tone is maintained throughout "Babymakers," which would prefer to treat childbearing with less sanctity and more semen jokes.

It's a welcome attitude in an age of hyper-conscious parenting, but "Babymakers" is doomed by its lack of heart. It opens - curiously, because the film is about the difficulties of impregnation - with the couple, Tommy and Audrey, woken by a crying baby in the next room. Audrey tells him it's his turn, to which Tommy reluctantly rises, shuts the door, swears and returns to bed.

The tone is set: These are glib, selfish people and little that follows suggests they should be parents, or have any real interest in being them.

Instead, "Babymakers" is an increasingly incredulously plotted series of embarrassments about the wounded masculinity of a low sperm count. Ensuing misunderstandings nearly drive Audrey and Tommy apart and push Tommy to an ill-conceived sperm bank heist.

Schneider, who also starred for a time on NBC's "Parks & Recreation," has an easy Southern charm that can be natural or rakish, but few have known what do with him beside his longtime friend David Gordon Green, who directed "All the Real Girls." He nearly singlehandedly gives "Babymakers" a little substance - if only the script, by Peter Gaulke and Gerry Swallow, allowed for a little besides the easy gag.