The 24 Hour Woman (1999)

If a man had made this nerve-fraying, out-of-tune comedy about a hysteria-prone woman who crumbles under the pressures of trying to be a perfect wife and mommy while holding down a high-paying job, he would have been dissed for vulgarity and hooted at for Just Not Getting It. But what do we make of plugged-in cowriter-director Nancy Savoca (''True Love''), who takes the easiest way out at every step in this Pampers-deep extended sitcom? The Wonder Woman wannabe here (Rosie Perez, begging to be loved) is the producer of a happy-talk New York morning TV show -- her husband (Diego Serrano) is one of the cohosts -- and when her pregnancy is announced on air to female-audience delight, the desexualized gorgon executive producer (Patti LuPone, not a happy moment) milks gestation for its ratings potential, then loses all sympathy once the kid is born. The exaggerated circumstances and pulse-raising soundtrack of music and ambient noise are meant to throw the very real conflicts of working mothers into sharper relief, I know. But with such tiring wackiness on the part of extremely privileged characters, ''24 Hour Woman'' alienates viewers from the very issues it means to champion.

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