Judd Apatow’s comedic take on the notorious one-night stand produces ironically endearing results.
THINGS THIS MOVIE CONTAINED: Lots of marijuana, various cameos, fleshofthestars.com, and of course, pregnancy.
THINGS THIS MOVIE DID NOT CONTAIN:Sex Panther by Odeon, French toast, clips of Chuck Norris from the 1974 film Slaughter in San Francisco.
The Review:Contrary to the way the title sounds, this movie has more heart than you’d expect it to. Akin to The 40 Year Old Virgin (also directed by Apatow), Knocked Up fills the quota on toilet humor whilst finding the moral of the story in an almost family wholesome way.
This film centers around Ben and Alison, two polar opposites who accidentally have unprotected sex after a drunken night. He’s an unemployed pot-head developing a website about naked celebrities with his friends. She’s an up and coming broadcast journalist who just got a promotion at E!. After discovering her pregnancy, Alison decides to keep the baby and informs Ben, who wants to “do the right thing” and promises to help support her. As total strangers with nothing in common, the new couple venture into a forced relationship and hope for the best.
I still prefer The 40 Year Old Virgin to this, perhaps due to a less likable main character in this film. It feels as if the movie wants you to like Ben, but his slacker/stoner lifestyle makes it really hard to.
Seth Rogen proved that he could carry a movie on his own, yet he looks more comfortable (and garners more laughs) as a supporting character. Katherine Heigl did well with what she could, as it seemed more of the focus was on Ben than on Alison. The true scene stealers of the film were Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd, hilariously supporting the leads as Alison's sister and brother-in-law suffering from a problematic marriage.
While the movie is well written and often amusing, it runs a bit long and occasionally drags on. Comedies should never be longer than two hours. It’s practically an unwritten rule. Despite this, Knocked Up is still a genuine comedy and supports Apatow’s prolific collection of work. The man knows what he’s doing.
Complaints: Honestly, the whole situation really sucks for the girl. Severely.
On a side note: Kids ruin everything. It’s a scientific fact. Unfortunately, I can't develop a spell strong enough to get rid of them all.
