Directed by: Judd Apatow
Premise: After a one-night stand between Ben, a
dope smoking loafer (Seth Rogan), and Alison, a career woman on her way up
(Katherine Heigl), results in a pregnancy, the two attempt to reconcile their
lifestyles and come to terms with impending parenthood.
What Works: Knocked Up is very funny and a
step up from Apatow’s last film, The 40 Year Old Virgin. Like that
film, Knocked Up is consistently funny and mixes dirty humor with very
sweet, good-hearted intentions. In all areas, Knocked Up succeeds The
40 Year Old Virginand it is a much more mature and much more enjoyable
to watch. It demonstrates command of a basic rule of comedy writing that is
often forgotten, that the most successful comedies have strong and coherent
dramatic centers. Knocked Up has some exceptional character writing and
lets its actors run with the material, allowing them to laugh and to cry, and
that variety of emotion sells the movie. Both lead actors are very good and give
performances that are appealing and engaging. The relationship between Ben and
Alison has a lot of reality to it, especially as they go ahead with their
relationship after discovering the pregnancy. Likewise, the relationship between
Alison’s sister and brother in law (Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd) is also
conveyed very convincingly and the interrelationship between the two couples
allows for a lot of complications in the drama and new opportunities for humor.
Along the way, the characters confront a lot of the issues involved in
pregnancy, contemporary romance, and burgeoning adulthood and Knocked Up actually has something to say about these subjects, allowing them to play out in
the drama.
What Doesn’t: Harold Ramis appears in what
amounts to a cameo as Ben’s father. He is great in the role and the only
disappointment in the film is that there was not more interaction between the
two characters. Also, the film is not as laugh out loud funny as some might
expect from the creator of The 40 Year Old Virgin, but that is because
this film relies less on gags and more on situational and dialogue humor.
Bottom Line: Knocked Up is a very good film.
Like the original American
Pie, the picture is able to take on the subject of sexuality in
contemporary life and really do something with it while having a few laughs
along the way.