Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
original take on the theme of parenthood, October 11, 2005
Venla is a fertility clinic psychologist who provides counseling for couples before they take that life-altering plunge into child-rearing. The irony is that Venla wants desperately to have a child of her own, but Antero, her boyfriend of fifteen years, who wants no part of the responsibility of fatherhood, is secretly sabotaging their efforts at conception, going so far as slipping contraceptives into her drinks and eventually even having a vasectomy without her knowledge. The third major character in the drama is Satu, a lesbian co-worker at the clinic, who also wants a child and with whom Venla begins to fall in love.
"Producing Adults" is one of the few films I can remember that actually deals with an issue that most people end up struggling with at some point in their lives: when - and even if - to have children. The movie tries to be fair with all its characters, even showing Antero, who does some pretty despicable things in the course of the movie, in a reasonably sympathetic light. Although his motives for not having children arise from a certain core selfishness - he is a championship skater who feels fatherhood would severely limit his chances of winning an Olympic gold medal - we can see that he truly does love Venla and is terrified of losing her. We can also empathize with his terror when he visits his prolific married buddy whose home seems to be literally overrun with rampaging little ones. And, for all his dishonesty, at least he isn't producing children THEN deciding he doesn't want to have anything to do with raising them. Moreover, writer Pekko Pesonen and director Aleksi Salmanpera, although their sympathies clearly lie with the two women who want desperately to be mothers, still acknowledge that the very act of having children can often be as rooted in selfishness as NOT having them. In addition, Venla is not always completely honest herself, even going so far as to trick her husband into "donating" a sperm sample to see if he's fertile without his prior consent.
This Finnish film offers a complex study of human nature as the three main characters interact in ways that are both revelatory and highly unexpected. Actually, the movie is at its most interesting when it is focusing on the marital conflict between Venla and Antero, and a bit less interesting when it is chronicling the burgeoning love between Venla and Satu. Venla's almost instantaneous "conversion" to lesbianism seems too much a matter of convenience to be taken seriously and, thus, puts a strain on the story's credibility. Still, despite that weakness, the film is not only well acted, but has some profound things to say about the kind of compromises people have to make when they become mature adults.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing movie about the disintegration of a straight relationship, June 10, 2006
This movie is about a lovely Finnish woman named Venla, a psychologist at a fertility clinic, who has been with her boyfriend for 15 years. She has decided she now wants to have kids but he doesn't want any and instead says he wants to have her support them while he pursues his speed skating dreams. In this film, the boyfriend ends up doing several unethical actions to Venla to ensure that they never produce children, including slipping her a morning after pill in her champagne to ensure she isn't pregnant after a condom busts and then later on getting a vasectomy. He also lies and tells her he wants to have kids. At work Venla discusses all the trials of her relationship with a female coworker named Satu, the lab worker. Satu is a lesbian who seems to have given up having anyone in her life to love and has ended up in an unfulfilling relationship with a male next door neighbor just to alleviate her loneliness. About halfway through the film Venla decides to take drastic action in order to get pregnant and asks for the assistance of Satu, who cares deeply for Venla. When they are caught by the boss of the clinic, a number of surprising happenings occur, including both the women going bed together and being caught by the Venla's boyfriend. -- The cover of this DVD said this is an amusing film. I didn't find it amusing so much as gut-wrenching to watch as the male/female couple relationship as it crumbles. I'm only giving these film three stars because I bought this film thinking it was going to be a lesbian love story but this film is not about that, so much as adults making hard decisions in their lives after finding they aren't getting what they want from their partner. This film also did not develop the romantic relationship between Venla and Satu and I found their sudden sexual/romantic was rather abrupt, and not romantic or persuasive. I wish the filmmaker would have spent much less time on the selfish boyfriend who doesn't want to grow up; and was also a dishonest and unethical cad to a woman he said he loved. I also wanted to know more about the enigmatic Satu and have seen the romantic relationship between the two women developed more. This film also ended very abruptly and I would have liked to see a better end between Venla and Satu by adding at least another 20 minutes to this 90 minute film.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Refreshingly unique queer love story...with substance., November 17, 2005
"Producing Adults" is a refreshingly unique story of a love triangle with
a clever queer twist. It's a film about figuring out just where your heart
lies -- in work, hobby, family, and romance -- and what exactly it takes
to figure it all out. Set in Finland with English subtitles, "Producing
Adults" is audacious, with the perfect amount of humor and cute romance
laced into an absolutely profound love story.
Venla, a fertility counselor, wants nothing more than a baby with her
aspiring speedskater boyfriend, Antero. Antero, however, is too devoted to
his skating to want anymore complications in his life, but is unwilling to
talk about it with Venla. The overwhelming secrecy begins to push Venla
further and further away, and what was meant to minimize complication ends
up doing the exact opposite. Soon enough, someone in the relationship
develops feelings for someone else....someone of the same sex. What ensues
is a sometimes-sexy, always realistically challenging romantic story about
love -- both what we love (job, kids) and who we love.
The story is engaging throughout, and I'd be hard-pressed to find any
remote complaints. Good acting, good script, and excellent production.
"Producing Adults" has won audiences over around the world, with several
awards from international and queer film festivals alike. Join the queer
masses and watch this movie. With just the right balance of comedy,
romance, and drama, it's perfect for any mood.
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