Maybe Baby

Infertility is no laughing matter, which only encourages Ben Elton to make doctor jokes and write sketches about having sex in funny places. Sam (Hugh Laurie) and Lucy (Joely Richardson) are married. He's a commissioning editor at the BBC and she works for a theatrical agency. Cue gentle satire on TV execs and luvvies.

Sam 'n' Lucy's attempts at conceiving involve mildly rude antics and a little light heartache. Lucy is beautiful, generous and loyal. Sam is ugly, self-centred and lazy. He's also capable (gasp!) of reading her diary. Almost all the people you love to watch on the box pop up and do a turn - Emma Thompson as a New Age bore, Rowan Atkinson as a goofy gynaecologist, Dawn French as a hearty Australian nurse, Joanna Lumley as Lucy's lesbian boss, Tom Hollander as a post-Irvine Welsh television director.

The film has two defects. It isn't funny and Hugh Laurie is not Hugh Grant. What is missing is Stephen Fry giving a lecture on the decline in sperm counts amongst the sun-dried wine drinking classes, while the sale of designer underpants continues to soar. Dialogue such as "You used to like my bottom" does not compensate.