Judd Apatow has a way of introducing topics for comedy that run the risk for sophomoric humor or cynicism and turning them into something memorable. I saw it first in 2005 with his solid “The 40 Year Old Virgin.” And here we have another film, “Knocked Up,” featuring much of the same cast but switching them up a bit. Seth Rogan (who also produces) is moved to one of the lead roles, with Paul Rudd resuming his supporting role alongside his wife, played by Leslie Mann. This time added also is Katherine Heigl, who slips into Apatow’s characters’ world with ease.
What works about “Knocked Up” that differs from run-of-the-mill pregnancy movies is that it makes its characters likable and real, surrounds them with diverse supports, and confronts them with real problems. Apatow’s characters are layered. There’s no one-sided action or motives, and the director surrounds the movie with humor in the right places to lighten the mood. At the film’s onset, we see a meeting between Alison (Heigl) and Ben (Rogen), which ends in a night of drunken, unprotected sex. When Alison tells Ben she’s pregnant, he responds in immature theatrics. It’s cliché and sophomoric. However, by the time Alison gets to the 9-month mark we’re ready to love him. It’s the way Apatow’s characters go through the movie, convention mixed with new turns, that makes the film enjoyable until its pleasing finale.
The story is good in this way. Most films about unplanned pregnancy rush to get to the birth and show single guys taking on the mantle of responsibility rife with pratfalls and goofs. There’s something funny about a man who can’t change a diaper or know how to hold a baby. There’s something equally funny about a woman rolling her eyes at her partner in utter frustration. “Knocked Up” knows better and layers Ben and Alison with honest conversations, real feelings, and heart-to-hearts.
I’ll say this – in Rogen’s hands, Ben appeals to that same manner of pot-smoking naivety that made us laugh in “The 40 year Old Virgin,” and doesn’t show a lot of range until the film’s third act. But he shows it well. Likewise, Heigl is absolutely charming. Sweet in films like “27 Dresses” and TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” this is her most complex role and easily her best acting to date. She makes Alison someone we can relate to and someone we want to see succeed. When Ben frustrates her we’re right there with her because we really want this to work for them. Heigl and Rogen have little chemistry – but that’s the thing that makes this movie work. They’re clumsy, awkward, and cautious as they negotiate how to proceed with their entanglement. A scene with Rogen in Alison’s room after shopping for items for the baby is one of the film’s sweetest. It’s only their second date, and they’ve been though so much. Heigl and Rogen let us feel their sincerity, their vulnerability, their fear.
Ben and Alison are backed by humorous supports with Pete and Debbie, played by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann respectively. Debbie is Alison’s sister, has her own problems, but tries to give her good advice. Mann is an incredible actress, and fills Debbie with a strong personality guarding fears and desires. She one minute coaxes her sister into telling Ben she is pregnant when she’s doesn’t want to because it’s the right thing to do. Another minute she is criticizing Ben for acting like a child. We believe Mann’s performance as two sides to the same woman, not merely dialogue meant to fill a script. She and Pete have two kids and problems of their own. And while Apatow would explore their relationship to near perfection in “This is 40,” here it helps to pave a road of emotions that buffer Ben and Alison well. We disappear into the script along with these four, and the result is both comedic and sweet.
The supporting characters are fun, though aside Rudd are basically one-sided and flat. Ben has a host of friends (the most likable played by Jason Segal, who also stars in “This is 40”) that like to smoke pot and make fun of each other in sophomoric ways. But the film uses these scenes for comedic relief. Yes, there’s something juvenile about mom jokes, but structured the way it is, it serves to break up the seriousness of some of the more tense scenes that Apatow needs to tell his story. Under it all, “Knocked Up” is a very funny film and the actors know what they’re doing.
Like Apatow’s other films, it runs a little long (two hours and nine minutes), but feels necessary and needed. Its actors work well together, the story is tight and realistic, and you really feel like you’ve grown with these characters along the way. Like “Bruce Almighty” or “Liar Liar,” “Knocked Up” brings laughs and emotions in the right places. Is it perfect? No. Sophomoric? Sometimes. But you feel better at the film’s conclusion than when you started, and that’s something in itself.
– by Mark Ziobro
