Dir. Judd Apatow, US, 2007, 129 min
Cast: Seth Rogan, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill
Review by Matthew Rodgers
Judd Apatow’s stateside sleeper hit ($140m and counting) has been long overdue on these shores, but with delivery expected this Friday its time to see whether it’s the much touted comedy classic the posters would have us believe or a film worthy of being put up for adoption.
Rising star Seth Rogan (little seen US show 'Freaks and Geek's and The 40-Year Old Virgin) plays dictionary definition slob Ben Stone, a man who lives off a miniscule inheritance and who’s future rests on the success of a filthy, wholly unoriginal website. Living in shared accommodation with like-minded losers his life is about to collide with that of up and coming E Entertainment anchorwoman Alison, played by Greys Anatomy’s Katherine Heigl, their paths cross as Alison celebrates promotion culminating in a drunken one night stand and impending parenthood.
There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking about Knocked Up and the way the script develops is extremely formulaic of the romantic-comedy genre but the same could have been leveled at Apatow’s Virgin. The strength in his movies can be found in the characterisations and the partially adlibbed dialogue that allows a natural feel to the story. Point of case being that Ben reacts honestly to the snowballing problems his night of unprotected passion causes, the beautifully nuanced awkward chemistry between Heigl and Rogan grounds the implausibility of their decision to start a relationship for the sake of the child and the all too predictable conclusion is forgiven because of this subtle approach to proceedings.
The much-hyped Rogan is irritatingly loveable as a Homer Simpson incarnate, and Heigl is sweetly adorable as the all too understanding Alison but it is the peripheral characters that steal the show. Paul Rudd (Anchorman, Friends) is terrific as Pete, the put upon brother-in-law to Alison whose inability to cope with the nauseatingly horrible creation that is his wife Debbie – the only mis-step character wise as she is given no redemption for her selfish behavior that leaves a bad taste in the mouth – he elicits laughs (tripping on ‘shrooms is a comic highlight) and sympathy in equal amounts. Top honours also go to Alan Tuydk and Kristin Wiig for their hilarious double act as network execs, Wiig in particular gets some of the films biggest laughs as the jealously manic PR.
A minor criticism would be that at little over two hours a caesarean might have been advisable to tighten up the laughs and provide a quicker delivery for the “guide to making a rom-com” ending, but beneath the crude premise and sometimes vulgar language there is a family friendly message movie with a saccharine coated heart that importantly has plenty of laughs.
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