Oh, Conceptual Comedy!
Written: Jun 19 '07 (Updated Jun 19 '07)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: good jokes and characters, has more going on than the typical comedy
Cons: not as funny as 40-Year-Old Virgin
The Bottom Line: Not as funny as 40-Year-Old Virgin but very sweet and satisfying. Great performances!
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| bilavideo's Full Review: Knocked Up |
As I see it, Knocked Up is the unofficial sequel to The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Writer-director-producer Judd Apatow was the creative force behind both films, which are thematically related. Both are about nice people, overwhelmed a bit by the whole mega-concept of sex, and who are, through a twist or two of fate, thrown down the rabbit hole. If you think it's funny to be a 40-Year-Old Virgin, wait till you see the woman who can't remember losing it, and what that means, now that she's "knocked up."
Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is an eye-popping heartbreaker who works behind the camera at an entertainment-news channel, that is, until it's discovered that her brain (she's quite smart) is not the only of her assets. But going out on the town with her existential crisis of an older sister, Debbie (Leslie Mann), Alison ends up in the sack with Ben Stone (Seth Rogen), a lovably honest, endearing, F'up who, under the influence of the spirits, can't get his condom on, mistakes a cue and goes for it al fresco.
This is where the music would come on and you'd see the rockin' sperm from Look Who's Talking. But the joke, here, isn't your typical situation comedy. One of the great things Apatow does with his scripts is to write stuff that explores relationships as something more than cardboard characters to throw rocks at. Ben is both a stoner and a slacker but he's more than that. Alison, who struck me as Mormonesque (before I learned that actress, Katherine Heigl was raised one before going inactive), is exactly the woman every guy would like to accidentally knock up. She's pretty, smart, maternal but independent, patient but not a doormat.
I was a little surprised when this film came out and none of the usual activist groups got together to complain. Maybe that's because - this far past the sexual revolution - it's not quite a shocker to talk about unplanned pregnancy or unwed parents. May be it's because Alison, who has a career to think about, doesn't even think of abortion. These are good people who want to raise the child together, and who are only beginning to realize what tremendous changes they'll have to make in order to come close. Apatow's script and direction make this a hilarious and poignant discussion, full of tough decisions but no easy answers.
Two subplots factor into the decisions Alison and Ben are faced with. One of these is the domestic situation between her sister, Debbie, and Debbie's husband, Pete (Paul Rudd) (In fact, Leslie Mann is married to Apatow, himself). Debbie and Pete are "happily married" but it's not quite clear whether those two words go togethere or are some kind of oxymoron. On the surface, they have an idyllic life, with adorable children, but Pete periodically makes these "business trips" that have him taking off in the night - and Debbie is beginning to suspect that Pete has someone else on the side.
The other subplot involves Ben's idea of a life, which includes living together with his stoner buddies, playing endless video-game tournaments and building a web site dedicated to telling its customer base when, during the movies, an actress will take her clothes off. It's not exactly work as we've come to know it - but welcome to a brave new world.
Steve Carrell, who played the lead in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, makes a cameo appearance here, as himself, responding to Alison's meltdown when catty Hollywood types make the same comment about her condition. Heigl, who has the looks to make it in a competitive business, is most talented from the neck up. Yes, she's a babe, but it's what she does with her face that really puts her in a league all her own. Heigl has an "it" quality that makes you wish they put her in everything.
But most hilarious is Seth Rogen, who reminds me of the Meat Head from All in the Family. Rogen is so Rob-Reiner-esque, you'll love watching him sort through the logistical and ethical minefield of standing tall in a situation where men are routinely demonized. Having "knocked up" a woman whose name he can't remember the next day - let alone whether or not they did it - he's the reminder that women are not the only ones who make changes in the interim between "Oh God!" and "It's a girl!"
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Funny Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
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bilavideo
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Member: Bill Kilpatrick
Location: The geographic center of the theater.
Reviews written: 711
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Screenwriter
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