knocked up - the movie June 3, 2007
Like probably every other pregnant woman in America, I went to see the new movie KNOCKED UP this weekend. I’m a big fan of “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” so I figured I’d love this new Judd Apatow movie, especially since it’s getting the most universally glowing reviews of any American comedy I can remember.
I liked it a lot, but didn’t love it. It’s very good, but not great. I was expecting greatness.
It’s a lot more vulgar and crude than The 40 Year Old Virgin. Too many of the jokes were based on human excrement (I have somewhat bizarrely delicate sensibilities in that regard). The sex scenes were also too literal for my tastes. And although their relationship was the centerpiece of the movie, I never did completely “get” why the Katherine Heigl character decides to basically force herself to fall for the schlubby, rude, shiftless Seth Rogen character simply because she finds herself pregnant by him after a one night stand.
All that said, the movie has some amazing strengths as well. The Paul Rudd-Leslie Mann couple was a brilliant, cruelly hilarious amalgamam (sp?) of every unhappily married couple I have ever met. Leslie Mann is brilliant in this movie. The best scene is one where she tries to get into a nightclub only to have the doorman eventually tell her that she’s too old and that her sister is too pregnant. I also love the buddy chemistry between Paul Rudd and Seth Rogen.
Definitely worth seeing, and I’d like to see the DVD version with director’s commentary because there are a lot of individual scenes within the movie that are pitch perfect comedy. But I could have done with fewer fart jokes and more relationship development for Rogen and Heigl.
Go see Waitress, I don’t think you will be disappointed.
Yeah, I am totally with you on the crudeness part. I went to see it Friday night to catch the thrill of seeing it on it’s opening night. The theater was almost full, so my husband and I sat almost right in the middle between about twenty obvious grandma grandpa types. I cringed and couldn’t let go when the guys were joking about the hairy guy and they said “Your face looks like a vagina.” The lady next to me said, “What did he say?” I just didn’t have the heart.
I think I might be able to enjoy it better with a group of younger folks. I was disappointed, since I wanted to laugh hard, but only got a few chuckles.
I have to admit, that my husband and I were both moved in the end. I love Seth’s fathers character.
Was I the only one who found it shocking that they showed her bulging vulva (waxed, I guess) when the baby was emerging? I watch tape after tape of birth videos with my clients but I found myself shocked at that and the sex scene. I found it unexpectedly explicit.
I agree with Megan. I loved the Waitress. I laughed hard. I came away feeling good. See what you think. I don’t think it’s just a chick flick, either, though I saw it with my sisters and that was fab.
Sorry to ramble!
B and I are going to see Knocked Up tonight. I’ve been looking forward to it since I saw a leaked preview 6 months ago! But I HATE fart jokes. And I’m pretty sensitive about the whole excrement as humor device. Thanks for the heads up, if nothing else, it’ll keep me from being disappointed when it shows up!
[...] it was innovative in its hilariousness. I laughed out loud at MANY parts of the movie and, since Katie had warned me, I wasn’t at all off-put by the toilet humor. Judd Apatow’s humor is different than [...]