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Knocked Up


by Yoda
posted on 6/10/07
On the surface, it probably seems as if Writer-Director Judd Apatow is a one-trick pony. On the heels of 2005's smash hit The 40 Year Old Virgin comes another sex-based comedy, starring many of the same people.

But underneath the surface, we find real, three-dimensional characters beneath the occasionally raunchy gags. They behave realistically, have real problems, and make really big mistakes (say, about 8 lbs, 6 ounces). They are human in all the best and worst ways. If there's a common theme spanning these two movies, it's that sex is a way too complicated thing for any normal person to get ahold of.

The film opens by introducing us to the two main characters; Ben Stone, played by Seth Rogen, and Alison Scott, played by Katherine Heigl. Stone is, well, stoned all the time, and his career ambitions involve cataloguing celebrity nude scenes. Scott, on the other hand, is a rising star at E! Entertainment Television, and has just been offered an on-air position. She ventures out to a club to celebrate, where she meets Stone, starts drinking, and asks Ben to come home with her. There's a slight misunderstanding in regards to birth control, and they part ways in the morning.

Alison starts getting randomly sick eight weeks later, and phones Ben to inform him that the film's title has suddenly become appropriate. They meet, argue, and eventually decide to try a relationship, for the good of the child.

Apatow has a tremendous ear for dialogue (especially male dialogue), and the exchanges between Ben and Alison's brother-in-law Pete (played by Paul Rudd) are hysterical. It's one thing to write funny dialogue, but it's another thing altogether to write funny dialogue that doesn't sound like it was written. Apatow does it easily and often, and it works every time.

Like The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up runs over 2 hours; quite long for a comedy. None of the time is wasted, however, as the film's characters are fully fleshed out and nothing feels rushed or overlong. The story takes its time, confident that getting to know the characters will pay off in the end in a big way, even in an overtly sexual comedy.

Smarter than American Pie and funnier than your average date movie, Knocked Up is a film that likes people the way they are, and doesn't have to soften their edges to make them presentable for the screen. Judd Apatow trusts that showing us all of his characters, including their deepest flaws and oddest idiosyncracies, will only endear us to them more. The result is one of the funniest, most well-rounded comedies in years.