Knocked Up
Review by Loc
Judd Apatow has been around for a while as a writer, producer, and a director. However, it wasn’t until the 40 Year Old Virgin when Apatow hit the big show. This summer, he follows up the “feel-good” Steve Carell comedy with Knocked Up, starring Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen. Heigl is most widely known from her neurotic portrayal of Izzie in Grey’s Anatomy, Rogen is sort of known from as the funny, fat, bearded stockroom worker from 40 Year Old Virgin. But when you mix everything together, you get comedy gold, at least that’s what critics would have you believe. Quick hit: nope, not gold, not silver, but a decent bronze.
The premise is simple enough: an unprotected one-night stand leads to an accident that lasts approximately nine months. You have the lovable slacker in Rogen’s Ben Stone, a wannabe internet start-up entrepreneur who lives with four other lovable losers. Their days consist of smoking pot and backyard gladiator games, like pool jousting. Then you have Heigl’s Alison Scott, a pretty-young face working to make it in the entertainment capital of Hollywood. Getting promoted to on-camera work means a night out clubbing, which leads to the only-in-Hollywood hook-up of Heigl and Rogen, which begets accidental pregnancy and weeks upon weeks of growth/fighting/hardships/personal growth. Yippee.
Yes, the plot is simple and formulaic, which is fine. This flick is aimed to please with the edgy humor and likable leads. Much like 40 Year Old Virgin, the key to this flick revolves around the buddy-buddy humor and how well the main characters deliver. Which ranks around 2nd Day Air delivery. They’re not parcel post, but they’re not overnight FedEx, that’s for sure. All postal analogies aside, Knocked Up provides some decent laughs and chuckles. Uncomfortable moments are highlighted in scenes like the gynecologist screenings or the baby delivery, which are chuckle-inducing. However, overall, the comedy isn’t great. It’s good, it’s solid, but it’s not greatness.
As for the “likable” characters, each lead has their issues. With Rogen, he’s a gentle enough, cuddly lead. But, he’s not real lead material in this flick. Sure, we sorta sympathize with his character, and he delivers some nice exchanges with Paul Rudd. However, he doesn’t ascend into the leading man stratosphere at any time in this flick. Moving on to Heigl, she’s OK. Yes, she’s a strong lead and her delivery is worthy of recognition. But the likeability quotient is low, hovering around mediocre at best. Comic timing is decent, but again, nothing special.
So, what about the supporting cast? Well, the aforementioned Rudd is quite good in his indifferent husband role. It’s the typical comedic role for Rudd, he deadpans the funnies and does it well. No problems with that. But the group of lovable losers is not so good. Again, comparing to the 40 Year Old Virgin, Steve Carell’s band of obnoxious but lovable goofs was great, including Seth Rogen. They supported Carell but offered some of the funniest moments in the flick. In Knocked Up , the stoned kids are little more than annoyances, flies that you can’t swat but come back to buzz your face every five minutes.
One additional damper on this flick was the honest portrayals in some of the relationships. Many people mentioned this phenomenon in the Jennifer Aniston-Vince Vaughn “comedy” The Break Up, when difficulties are portrayed between a couple, it can be brutally honest. In Knocked Up , the same thing occurs in some moments involving Rudd’s floundering marriage or Rogen and Heigl’s attempt to become an honest couple for baby’s sake. They aren’t long or drawn out moments, but seeing some of the seething and brooding anger is not fun or funny, just uncomfortable.
Overall, Knocked Up does a decent job of getting from conception to delivery, or start to finish for you sick minded individuals. There are a couple outrageous moments, baby delivery comes to mind most vividly, but the comedy is mostly R-rated tame. Sometimes there are funny moments, most of the time is chuckle worthy. The pacing can be a bit slow, making the 129 minute running time feel longer at certain times. However, it’s a good enough movie for the summer adult comedy slot. Out of 36 weeks to delivery, Knocked Up pushes at 25.2 weeks. It’s good enough, but no a breakthrough in any sense.
