Knocked Up / This is 40

KNOCKED UP (15)

D: Judd Apatow

Universal (Judd Apatow, Shauna Robertson & Clayton Townsend)

US 2007

127 mins

Comedy

W: Judd Apatow

DP: Eric Edwards

Ed: Brent White & Craig Alpert

Mus: Loudon Wainwright & Joe Henry

Seth Rogen (Ben Stone), Katherine Heigl (Alison Scott), Paul Rudd (Pete), Leslie Mann (Debbie)

Released the same year as Juno (qv), this less-quirky approach to an unplanned, unexpected pregnancy is both far funnier and much more responsible with its depiction of a young woman facing a life-changing decision.

A entertainment TV hostess has a drunken one-night-stand with a layabout stoner who she meets while celebrating her promotion at a nightclub, after becoming pregnant as a result, she becomes torn over doing the right thing , eventually inviting him into her life, which prompts him to become more responsible and give up getting high with his buddies.

Judd Apatow's brand of comedy is heavily dependant on witty one-liners, most of which are ad-libbed, with the cast practically playing themselves and all the characters (particularly the male ones) being far too similar to one another, but the focus on the main relationship is the key to this film, putting an odd pairing of Seth Rogen & Katherine Heigl together, yet the chemistry between them feels realistic, whilst Heigl's on-screen sister Leslie Mann & her husband Paul Rudd seem much better suited, yet spend almost the entire film immersed in petty squabbles.

There's a few gross-out moments which the film would have been much better without, but it's still a great deal more enjoyable and less pretentious than its hipster doppelgänger mentioned above.

7/10

Katherine Heigl & Seth Rogen in Knocked Up

THIS IS 40 (15)

D: Judd Apatow

Universal (Judd Apatow, Clayton Townsend & Barry Mendel)

US 2012

133 mins

Comedy

W: Judd Apatow [based on characters from the film screenplay "Knocked Up"]

DP: Phedon Papamichael

Ed: Brent White & David L. Bertman

Mus: Jon Brion

Paul Rudd (Pete), Leslie Mann (Debbie), John Lithgow (Oliver), Albert Brooks (Larry), Megan Fox (Desi), Jason Segel (Jason), Melissa McCarthy (Catherine), Chris O'Dowd (Ronnie)

The sort-of-sequel to Knocked Up.

It follows the other couple from that movie, Pete & Debbie, as they hit 40-years-old and suffer a marital crisis, financial problems, a daughter going through puberty and other mid-life problems.

It's pretty much sitcom material from Judd Apatow with slightly more interesting characters, though it's quite obvious in the dialogue what was scripted and what was ad-libbed by the actors. It also makes a mistake of marketing itself as a "sequel" to Knocked Up (qv), but doesn't even have any true reference to events from that movie, nor does it feature the characters played by Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen. Instead it features cameos from Jason Segel, John Lithgow, Megan Fox and others.

As a standalone comedy, it's reasonably enjoyable as a witty attempt to mirror the trials and tribulations of a real-life relationship, but it could have done with being half-an-hour shorter.

6/10