Knocked Up

“From the people who brought you The 40 Year Old Virgin . . .” actually means something. I hate those ads that say, “the studio that brought you”, who cares what a studio did? I want to see the next project from the same director, actors and writers. These people who brought us The 40Year Old Virgin, a movie that while raunchy had a heart at its core and cemented Steven Carrell as a star, have now given us Knocked Up. Like Virgin, this film also contains some over-the-top disgusting scenes but despite that, you end up caring about the characters.

You can thank writer/director/producer Judd Apatow for giving this movie a strong base. It’s kinda like Apatow bakes the cake and the actors add all the frosting and sprinkles on it to make it even more delectable. I’ve been watching Apatow’s earlier TV work on The Larry Sanders Show and have found that this writer/director knows how to perfectly mix the crass, the realistic and the heart. I find it both funny and sad, that when he made his critically acclaimed shows Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared, America and the networks practically shunned him and now he is one of the most sought after comedy writer/directors in Hollywood. If you haven’t seen Apatow’s early stuff, you should definitely go down to the video store and rent these gems. I’m sure you’ll recognize most of the cast.

Seth Rogen is awesome. I love that the poster of Knocked Up is just his face with the tag line “What if this guy got you pregnant?” Rogen has always been good at interjecting the hysterical one-liners in film and television, but in this movie he has to do so much more. The audience needs to care what happens to him, and I think he pulls it off beautifully. He still has the crackling wit and dumb-guy humour, but he also manages to have (I’ll keep saying it) heart. One of the funniest moments for me was when his Ben Stone character is describing his BC heritage, seeing as Rogen is actually from Vancouver. I’m looking forward to Rogen’s work in Superbad which comes out soon. He is a funny, funny guy.

Along with Rogen is the surprisingly funny Paul Rudd as Pete. Rudd’s earlier work included Clueless, The Object of My Affection and Romeo + Juliet, now he’s this extremely funny guy in Friends, Anchorman and 40 Year Old Virgin. He works very well with Rogen as was evidenced in their “You know how I know you’re gay” routine from Virgin. Katherine Heigl (Grey’s Anatomy) and Leslie Mann (Big Daddy) do a great job as the counterparts to these funny guys. The rest of the cast have small but incredibly funny roles throughout the film including Jason Segel (Freaks, How I Met Your Mother), Jay Baruchel (Undeclared, Million Dollar Baby) Jonah Hill (Accepted) and Alan Tudyk (Dodgeball, Serenity). Some of the standouts are Kristen Wiig who channels her quiet, cutting down character from SNL, and Ryan Seacrest playing himself as a total jerk. I was also amazed that Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters, Orange County) actually looks like he could be Rogen’s dad.

The story of Knocked Up contains a good message about taking responsibility, just like 40 Year Old Virgin talked about waiting until marriage. And while some of the scenes seem a little sitcomy and cliché with their montage sequences, there are plenty of laugh-out loud moments that will keep you laughing through the next scene. I will never look at hotel chairs the same way again. This movie is definitely for an older crowd and not intended for young teenagers. If you liked The 40 Year Old Virgin, you’ll like Knocked Up; I’m not going to say better or worse, because I really feel that they are equal in story, quality and humour. I guess that’s what you get when you get a movie “from the people who brought you . . .”

Reviews coming soon: Ocean’s 13, Evan Almighty, 1408, Live Free or Die Hard