If there is a point to Lifetime’s A Deadly Adoption, and I’m not conceding that there is, its core would be in the strange challenge of dullness and being forgettable. The film, which clocks in at a not-so-swift 84 minutes, casts Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig as Robert and Sarah Benson, a wealthy couple who take in a pregnant girl in anticipation of adopting the boy she’s expecting, which is, from the outset, an exceedingly promising proposal. One might expect that even if the entire production didn’t function like a parody, at least Ferrell and Wiig would find a way to underline a sense of comic anxiety in these rote caricatures, but that’s not the case. A Deadly Adoption is, for lack of a better phrase, as sober as a judge in tone, and the result is a genuinely odd watching experience, one where every line and gesticulation can be analyzed for evidence of self-awareness or sardonicism. On the whole, A Deadly Adoption seems like an attempt at no-wave filmmaking, one that doesn’t really succeed on the whole but nevertheless, there are a few elements of this poker-faced action-melodrama worth discussing.

The Opening Scene

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The script is courtesy of Andrew Steele, the writer behind Casa de mi Padre, The Spoils of Babylon, and the upcoming The Spoils Before Dying, and like those films, the comic engine of A Deadly Adoption is almost entirely in its language and the performers delivery. This is evident from the opening sequence, which outlines the accident that led to Sarah and Robert losing their second child due to miscarriage, and in the way that Ferrell delivers certain words. In this case, the word "dock" is repeated and Ferrell hits each utterance with a slight pointedness, a sly parody of the obvious use of overshadowing that most Lifetime films are slathered in.

The Wardrobes

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Image via Lifetime

One of Steele's most interesting devices is Robert's career as an author of money-centric books, outlining common budget planning and economic thinking, but he never develops any real jokes about such an unexplored kind of job, especially as a writer. The writing lacks anything like an expressive touch, as Steele seems more focused on the challenge of replicating the tedium of such films, but director Rachel Goldenberg has some slight nods to humor in her imagery, especially in her use of wardrobe. Ferrell is dressed in largely patterned, starched shirts and khakis, as if he's a walking billboard for L.L. Bean's Big and Tall line, whereas Bridget (Jessica Lowndes), the pregnant woman who turns out to be a con, switches from faux-virginal summer dresses to short shorts and tank tops that suggest nothing more than Megan Fox in Transformers. And of course, the villain is decked out with tattoos and can barely be bothered to wear something more than sleeveless Hanes shirts.

Ferrell & Wiig

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Image via Lifetime

Even if Steele's script ultimately doesn't undermine the genre that's seemingly being mocked here, there's a potent sense of subversion in the casting of Ferrell and Wiig alone. In fact, that's what begged most people's attention to the film in the first place. And the primary pleasantries of A Deadly Adoption mostly come from them trying to play it straight, seeing these two wildly talented and expressive actors trying to emulate the stiffness and humorlessness of the leads in Lifetime's films. The expressiveness of Ferrell's face is tampered down but his unique physicality is itself a wrench in the system, as he does not fit into the slender, medium-height mold that these characters are often designed in. Wiig proves to be far more convincing in sublimating her sense of emotional and physical detail, but her seemingly effortless ability to play with language also highlights the nuances of speech that drive good acting, in contrast to what one often sees on Lifetime.

The "Morals"

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Image via Lifetime

It's worth noting how Steele not only replicates the exposition and overtly planned plot turns of similar stories, but gets at the underlying sexism of such films. Following the opening sequence, Robert's protectiveness over his daughter, Sully (Alyvia Alyn Lind), is highlighted and ultimately blamed on nothing so much as Sarah's carelessness on the dock in the first scene. And though Robert is seen as unfaithful, his guilt over his infidelities is totally eclipsed by vengeful Jodi, a woman he slept with while promoting one of his books and who is partially behind the scheme that is uncovered in the third act; she's also the only character okay with killing Sully. Though Steele doesn't go as far as to duplicate the prominent Christianity that often denotes these movies, this attention to story detail gives a slight nod to the absurdity of such plot structures, even if it's not recognized openly in the dialogue itself.

The Ending

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Image via Lifetime

One of the more uneasy and occasionally unsettling elements of Lifetime films is the totally false sense of familial chemistry and total incompetence when approximating how teens or children talk and socialize. This can usually be blamed on the screenwriter trying to hit the plot points of the film rather than convince anyone that these are characters that we should care about, and the results are what often power the ironic comedic edge that have given Lifetime films their reputation as a treasure trove of so-bad-its-good programming. The most revealing scene in A Deadly Adoption's consideration of these moments of family bonding or friendship is in the last sequence, following the ridiculous climax involving  Sully and Robert facing off against Jodi, when the family has a celebratory dance party. One can almost see how aware Ferrell and Wiig are of their movements, trying to restrain themselves but only up to a point. It's probably the funniest scene in the entire film and it underlines the film's underdeveloped but still apparent fascination with the chasm between the dullness of "serious" dramatic acting and unhinged comedic performance. Still, its all too clear that this whole endeavor was meant as more of a private joke than as a genuine experiment in mainstream humor and irony.

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