By Kylee Dawson
4.5 out of 5
Is there such a thing as a guy-friendly comedy/chick flick, rolled into one? If such a hybrid could be created successfully, it would have to be through the comedic brilliance of The 40-Year-Old Virgin director Judd Apatow. And, his latest film, Knocked Up, is guaranteed to please and amuse both sexes tremendously.
In the film, Alison Scott is E! Entertainment Television’s newest, sexy anchor. Ben Stone is an unemployed, dumpy slacker who, with his four pothead roommates, is trying to create the first website that compiles the designated times in movies in which mainstream actresses appear naked.
In light of her new promotion, Alison (Katherine Heigl) is in the mood to celebrate at a nightclub where she inadvertently meets and mingles with Ben (Seth Rogen). An extended series of drinks and obligatory chitchat leads them back to Alison’s home… and then the OB/GYN office two months later.
While trying to keep her pregnancy hidden from her bosses, Alison tries to convince herself that she and Ben can make a relationship work for the sake of their child. In reality, such an obnoxious dilemma would blow. Watching it unfold in Knocked Up, just might make you blow a gasket from laughing so much.
Despite the countless uproarious one-liners and overall upbeat disposition of the film, Apatow manages to deeply examine the aftermath of one-night stand-induced pregnancy and its effect on those who try to sustain romantic relationships exclusively because of it. But, fortunately, Knocked Up isn’t Look Who’s Talking or Three Men and a Baby funny. It’s totally The 40-Year-Old Virgin funny (but not necessarily its equal).
Grey’s Anatomy and Roswell fans all know Heigl is suited for drama, but she definitely pulls her weight in such a comedy. And, looks flawlessly beautiful in the process. Contrastingly, Rogen is usually a secondary character, but he’s commanding and completely loveable as a leading man. Even if he does play an unattractive deadbeat.
Leslie Mann, also of 40-Year-Old Virgin fame, shines as Alison’s older sister, Debbie. It might be diplomatic to mention that Mann didn’t get the role just because she’s married to the director; she got the role because she’s a comedic genius as the over-the-hill-but-thinks-she’s-still-hot-enough-to-party mother of two. One of the funniest scenes in the film has to be Debbie’s run-in with an unyielding nightclub bouncer.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin demigod Paul Rudd fuels her madness as Debbie’s discontented husband Pete, a man who’s succumbed to his roles as father and husband, a fate also brought upon him by a one-night stand. Though he plays only a side character, the film begs the question, “When did Paul Rudd get so gorgeous?”
In addition to Rogen and Apatow, Jason Segel and Martin Starr help culminate an unofficial Freaks and Geeks reunion as two of Ben’s fellow slackee roommates. Jason is charming and witty in his stoner logic while Martin is the Gentile butt of the household’s jokes. Undeclared’s adorably goofy Jay Baruchel and smartass Jonah Hill (the fat eBay kid from The 40-Year-Old Virgin) also provide sidekick hilarities as the remaining roommates. Funny ad-libbed banter coupled with a house prank that gets out of hand, suggests these four should make their own film as well.
Much of the hilarity also comes from the ever-so nutty SNL newbie Kristen Wiig, as Jill, an E! coworker, and the quirky, but relative unknown Charlyne Yi as Jodi, a random stoner girlfriend who out baffles every other stoner in recent cinematic history.
There are a few tongue-in-cheek cameos from Steve Carell as Steve Carell, the talentless Ryan Seacrest, and most noticeably, a very menial role played by an A-list movie star.
So, there it is. Knocked up has it all. Humor, tenderness, conjunctivitis and Katherine Heigl in stirrups. Apatow did make one fatal mistake, however: Seth Rogen in a sex scene. There is no movie magic, no CGI effect known to man that could make Rogen in a sex scene watchable. Ever.
