In 2005,
Judd Apatow directed a movie which many found to be the funniest comedy in years and I movie I quite liked,
The 40 Year Old Virgin. The movie started what looks to become the Apatow-brand name formula and his latest movie
Knocked Up continues the same kind of themes and anxieties that have carried over from the
Steve Carell hit movie. It's a smart movie from Apatow and the result is another laugh-a-minute comedy with a sentimental and real edge that is so refreshing to see in the year of
Norbit and
License to Wed. In Knocked Up, we are once again positioned to follow an average looking guy who is a loveable loser in life and relationships, this time played by the awesomely funny
Seth Rogen. He's a 23 (though as one character says he looks 33) guy who lives with his outrageous (if you thought the supporting cast was crazy in his last movie, wait until you have seen this) druged up pals, who don't work but instead smoke pot all day and have plans to make their millions with a movie website showcasing the exact moments when actresses' are nude in movies. Their daily grind becomes watching
Neve Campbell and
Denise Richards make out in the pool in
Wild Things. After a night out on the town, Rogen somehow ends up dancing generating a little chemistry with the drunk
Katherine Heigl, who is getting herself intoxicated to celebrate her latest job promotion at her TV network. Somehow Rogen's shitty dancing seduces Heigl and they spend the night together and disperse the next morning, thinking that will probably be the last time they see each other. Of course that's not what happens and as you've seen from the trailers and from the title of the movie, things won't end there. Knocked Up works not only because Apatow's script is so ridicolously funny but the movie has a real edge to it and the realistic portrayl of the two leads relationship means we care about these characters more than those who fill
You, Me and Dupree. Heigl and Rogen you might not think would work well on paper but their genuine acting and the smart screenplay makes you believe that they care for each other and theirs just a great sweetness about the movie. But it's a genuine sweetness. Never forced. The supporting cast are all fantastic here.
Paul Rudd is almost a brand name himself as the depressed friend in these comedy flicks and he puts in some great work here as Pete, the brother-in-law to Heigl's character who thinks he's living a real life
Everybody Loves Raymond, just without the pithy dialogue and lasting a hell of a lot longer than 23 minutes.
Leslie Mann as Heigl's quite scary sister Debbie is also very good and actually has one of the better scenes where she confronts a black bouncer at a night club. Really, really liked this movie. And to genuinely enjoy a movie at the cinema this summer has been a rarity for me, so Apatow I congratulate you my friend. The movie does begin to out-stay it's welcome towards the end and it might be 15-20 minutes too long but Knocked Up is easily one of the funniest I've seen in the last couple of years and I think it's better than The 40 Year Old Virgin. It may be slightly more conventional and a little less edgy than his previous film but I think Apatow has matured a little here and his style of comedy is a breath of fresh air these days.