Romantic comedies have changed significantly since Julia Roberts’ heyday in the 90s. Perhaps it was because the public saw that they were uninspired, insipid drivel. Or maybe it was just that America’s Sweetheart couldn’t act, or they realized her Mona Lisa Smile was more of a Joker rictus grin. Regardless, over the past few years, the typical rom-com was hijacked by Judd Apatow and transformed into something different entirely: Something men wanted to watch.

Sure, Apatow’s oeuvre centers around a man-woman love story, but it also focuses heavily on bromance, the platonic love between the male lead and his friends. Michael Cera and Jonah Hill’s sleeping bag declaration of love in Superbad epitomizes this phenomenon; their relationship is the real love story in the movie.

Baby Mama seems to be a female response to this trend, a womb-ance, if you will (you don’t have to). And who better to kick it off than Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, the two women largely responsible for shattering Saturday Night Live‘s glass ceiling. Fey plays Kate, an overachieving exec whose biological clock is ticking loudly despite her being single. When she finds out her chances of conceiving are tiny (courtesy of a hilarious, underused John Hodgman), she enlists Poehler’s Angie as a surrogate.

Fey and Poehler’s chemistry, perfected over years on SNL, is undeniable, and their odd couple routine wrings big laughs out of what is a fairly average script by Michael McCullers (Austin Powers). But like with Apatow’s movies, what’s most interesting is not Fey’s fledgling relationship with Greg Kinnear, but the one with Poehler. It’s this bond that changes her, makes her question who she is and grow.

The film never quite reaches the giddy heights of Apatow’s best, but Fey and Poehler elevate the middling material as best they can. It’s a small step for romantic comedies, but a giant leap for womankind.