Baby Steps

Actor Barney Cheng makes his feature debut as a writer-director with this comic tale, in which he stars as Danny, a gay man whose determination to become a father is complicated to no end by the machinations of his tradition-bound, meddlesome mother (Ah-Leh Gua), a widow who has just broken up her older son's relationship with a girl she found unsuitable. “Ma” rushes from Taipei to Los Angeles after she learns of Danny's intent to hire a surrogate to bear his child, and she quickly takes charge, finding all of the possibilities unacceptable. She is also none too pleased to discover that her son has a partner—handsome Tate (Michael Adam Hamilton), whose ambivalence about becoming a daddy due to his own unhappy childhood further muddies Danny's plans. Eventually the scenario moves to Taiwan, where Ma insists that her son find a proper Chinese surrogate while keeping his relationship with Tate a secret because of societal prejudices and legal barriers. Baby Steps was obviously made on a shoestring budget, and Gua's over-the-top performance is irritatingly shrill at times, but this good-natured film—clearly a labor of love for Cheng—has its moments. A strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)