Scan and Pan
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Knocked Up
Ben (Seth Rogen) is a contented slacker who spends most of his time smoking marijuana with his roommates. Alison (Katherine Heigl) works for the E! television network and has just been promoted to being an on-screen interviewer of celebrities. The two meet at a nightclub and a drunken one night stand ensues. The next morning, a sobered up Alison tells Ben that she doesn't want to see him again. Eight weeks later, Alison discovers that she's pregnant, throwing both of their lives into sudden disarray.
Writer/director Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin) successfully blends romantic comedy, raunchy comedy, and relationship drama into a satisfying whole. It's the funniest film I've seen in awhile, but it also manages to say something about human relationships and what it means to take responsibility for our actions. The film makes us care about the characters and the choices they make. Apatow demonstrates that he can write believable characters of either gender without sacrificing comedic value. Despite being relatively long for a comedy at 129 minutes, it never feels padded with filler and never feels as long as its actual running time.
On the technical side, cinematographer Eric Edwards (My Own Private Idaho, Cop Land) goes for a bright, natural look that's good without distracting the audience from the characters or their situations. The score by Joe Henry (Jesus' Son) and Loudon Wainwright III fits the story's tone without being obvious or obtrusive. In addition, Wainwright writes and performs the excellent song playing over the end credits.
Rogen's adroit performance as Ben makes his evolution from stoner to father seem believable. Ben genuinely wants to do the right thing even if his immaturity sometimes gets in the way of that. Rogen brings an almost sweet charm to Ben that makes him very likable, and the strong on-screen chemistry he shares with Heigl is what really makes the film work. Heigl is quite funny as the young career-minded woman whose life plans are altered in a single night, and shows good comic timing in her character's hormonally induced mood swings.
Leslie Mann (Apatow's wife, and their children are in the film as the children of Mann's character) and Paul Rudd are funny as Alison's controlling sister and her browbeaten husband. Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill (the star of the upcoming Apatow-produced, Rogen-written comedy Superbad), and Martin Starr are hilarious as Ben's fellow stoner roommates. Also notable are Harold Ramis as Ben's father, Joanna Kerns as Alison's mother, Alan Tudyk as Alison's boss, Wainwright as Alison's doctor of choice, and Ken Jeong as one of the doctors she rejects. Saturday Night Live's Kristen Wiig is a scene stealer as Alison's co-worker who tries to verbally undercut her at every opportunity. Ryan Seacrest, James Franco, Andy Dick, and Steve Carell have genuinely amusing cameos as themselves, while Jessica Simpson, Eva Mendes, and Jessica Alba also appear as themselves.
Knocked Up is an enjoyable comedy with engaging characters. It succeeds in making its audience laugh while also making some good points about responsibility. Recommended.
[4 out of 5 stars]
This hilarious comedy is the perfect counter-programming to the action and effects films that make up the bulk of the summer release schedule. Surprisingly, it also has a lot to say about growing up and becoming responsible without taking anything away from the humor.
Ben (Seth Rogen) is a contented slacker who spends most of his time smoking marijuana with his roommates. Alison (Katherine Heigl) works for the E! television network and has just been promoted to being an on-screen interviewer of celebrities. The two meet at a nightclub and a drunken one night stand ensues. The next morning, a sobered up Alison tells Ben that she doesn't want to see him again. Eight weeks later, Alison discovers that she's pregnant, throwing both of their lives into sudden disarray.
Writer/director Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin) successfully blends romantic comedy, raunchy comedy, and relationship drama into a satisfying whole. It's the funniest film I've seen in awhile, but it also manages to say something about human relationships and what it means to take responsibility for our actions. The film makes us care about the characters and the choices they make. Apatow demonstrates that he can write believable characters of either gender without sacrificing comedic value. Despite being relatively long for a comedy at 129 minutes, it never feels padded with filler and never feels as long as its actual running time.
On the technical side, cinematographer Eric Edwards (My Own Private Idaho, Cop Land) goes for a bright, natural look that's good without distracting the audience from the characters or their situations. The score by Joe Henry (Jesus' Son) and Loudon Wainwright III fits the story's tone without being obvious or obtrusive. In addition, Wainwright writes and performs the excellent song playing over the end credits.
Rogen's adroit performance as Ben makes his evolution from stoner to father seem believable. Ben genuinely wants to do the right thing even if his immaturity sometimes gets in the way of that. Rogen brings an almost sweet charm to Ben that makes him very likable, and the strong on-screen chemistry he shares with Heigl is what really makes the film work. Heigl is quite funny as the young career-minded woman whose life plans are altered in a single night, and shows good comic timing in her character's hormonally induced mood swings.
Leslie Mann (Apatow's wife, and their children are in the film as the children of Mann's character) and Paul Rudd are funny as Alison's controlling sister and her browbeaten husband. Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill (the star of the upcoming Apatow-produced, Rogen-written comedy Superbad), and Martin Starr are hilarious as Ben's fellow stoner roommates. Also notable are Harold Ramis as Ben's father, Joanna Kerns as Alison's mother, Alan Tudyk as Alison's boss, Wainwright as Alison's doctor of choice, and Ken Jeong as one of the doctors she rejects. Saturday Night Live's Kristen Wiig is a scene stealer as Alison's co-worker who tries to verbally undercut her at every opportunity. Ryan Seacrest, James Franco, Andy Dick, and Steve Carell have genuinely amusing cameos as themselves, while Jessica Simpson, Eva Mendes, and Jessica Alba also appear as themselves.
Knocked Up is an enjoyable comedy with engaging characters. It succeeds in making its audience laugh while also making some good points about responsibility. Recommended.
[4 out of 5 stars]
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