A Deadly Adoption

Everything about Adoption is right visually, and Ferrell and Wiig are close enough to where they should be tonally, but it’s all a bit too earnest. Ferrell and Wiig’s performances are a bit too nuanced, as if they’re afraid pushing it any harder would tilt the film from homage to parody.

The sendup never came, and once you accepted that Mr. Ferrell and Ms. Wiig were playing it straight, you also realized that the movie wasn’t very good even by Lifetime standards, which are not exactly lofty.

Beyond Ferrell, Wiig and company’s superficial assurance at keeping the one-joke premise going (right up to a climactic musical number that elicits a chuckle or two), the film feels disconnected and utterly disposable.

Mostly, the experience is a head-scratcher all around. Because even by the undemanding standards evoked by the traditional image of Lifetime movies, the only deadly thing about this Adoption is just how dull it was.