Current Mea Culpa: This is the last review of a movie I saw before we went on vacation, now I’m backed up on all the post-vacation reviews for almost another half dozen. Hang in there. I think I’m going somewhere with all of these.
I figured this comedy was going to be good because of its credentials, namely the director and his cast. Judd Apatow has worked on many other things I’ve enjoyed, namely The Critic. However, I admit to not getting around to 40-Year-Old Virgin yet; I have no opinion of it either way. I grabbed this one while it was available to balance out the heavier things I’ve been renting.
The trailer covers the premise well so there’s no need to write about it. Personally, I feel that if Hollywood were smart, it wouldn’t show much in its current previews since many people with an IQ over 100 can tell most crap starring Jim Carrey, Jack Black and Adam Sandler will be terrible through these two-minute versions of ocular waterboarding. Otherwise, Knocked Up does borrow from older movies which have had two strangers marry and learn to love each other. Back then the vehicle was an arranged marriage, a fake marriage toward some goal or an accidental marriage.
Is this funny? Usually it is. Not fall-down, makes one laugh out loud funny but amusing enough to sit through on the DVD player (there is nothing comedies have worth paying movie-theater prices for). It definitely should’ve been shorter since much of it was extraneous and Apatow could’ve told his story in 90-100 minutes. Seth Rogan and his gaggle of manchildren do a great job portraying a colony of underemployed, weed-smoking slackers but their ignorance of websites already dedicated to finding celebrity nude scenes was a stretch. Katherine Heigl was okay yet she’s easily overshadowed by the entire supporting cast in her character’s life: Leslie Mann as her sister, Paul Rudd as her brother-in-law and the passive-aggressive co-worker Kristen Wiig (she’s perfect as the venomous person who says something nice yet you can hear the backhanded insult piggybacking on it). The only other elements I liked completely were the trip to Las Vegas and Mann’s character spying on Rudd to confront him on his alleged infidelity—it ends in an amusing yet expected twist.
Is it worth renting though? Only if you enjoyed Anchorman which is the last Apatow-influenced or guided film I recently saw. I endorse it still on the merits of his past, short-lived work on TV that has a well-earned following. I am looking more forward to the upcoming release of Juno to cover the subject matter in a funnier, darker manner.