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Movie Review - Knocked Up (2007)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Judd Apatow |
| Starring: |
Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jason Segel, and Jay Baruchel |
| Rated: |
R (for sexual content, drug use and language) |
| Length: |
129 minutes |
| Genre: |
Romantic Dramedy |
| Tagline: |
Save the due date |
| Studio: |
Universal Pictures |
| Website: |
Knocked Up |
| Release: |
June 1, 2007 |
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PLOT
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Take an unexpected pregnancy between two people, Ben and Alison (Rogen and Heigl), who would have preferred to
remain strangers; toss in Alison's disapproving older sister, Debbie (Mann); Debbie's hen-pecked husband,
Pete (Rudd); their two young children, Sadie and Charlotte (Apatow's real-life daughters); and Ben's four
slacker-happy, stoner roommates (Jonah Hill, Segel, Baruchel, and Martin Starr) and yep, you guessed it,
dysfunctional hijinks and shenanigans ensue.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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So let's see, how exactly can I discuss this movie and keep my moral foundations strongly intact? I laughed.
I blushed. I turned away in disgust. And I frequently offered up little prayers, asking that my mom never
find out what I was watching.
Feel free to read my review of The 40 Year-Old Virgin and apply
practically any comment I made regarding that film's raunchy humor to Knocked Up. The dialogue is
at times shockingly graphic, and there are images I witnessed that I wish I could remove from my memory.
If you're wondering what I'm talking about, well, I advise you to squint your eyes during the birth scene.
But beneath the filth, director Judd Apatow always manages to deliver a little sweetness. A little "aww
factor," if you will, for the ladies who have to sit through the strongly R-rated "guy comedy." Honest
characters and hilarious quips abound, as do excellent cameos that fans of Apatow's previous work (Freaks
and Geeks, Undeclared, The 40 Year-Old Virgin) will love
watching for. The running Spider-Man 3 joke is a highlight.
Apatow has a penchant for taking thoughts and subjects that many people might think but would never dare to
utter (at least not publicly) and well, he boldly puts them in words on the screen. There's no
denying that much of this material is uncomfortable. Yet, for many, it's strangely relatable. Not to me,
of course.
Surprisingly, the film also has a pretty good message about the struggles and nightmares of out-of-wedlock
pregnancy. It covers the entire story arch as well as the limits of a two hour timeframe will allow, and
the reactions and attempts at coping by Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl are genuine. Both actors do a
great job of portraying their characters' desires and fears regarding the situation. But let me caution
you - this is in no way justification for talking mama or your Sunday School class into attending. Don't
blame me if you end up disowned or excommunicated.
If you loved and could handle everything The 40 Year-Old Virgin
threw at you then you'll love and be able to handle Knocked Up. However, the easily offended should
stay far away.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- Judd Apatow first noticed Seth Rogen on a taped audition for Freaks and Geeks, the television show he was executive
producing in 1999. "I saw him on this casting tape from Vancouver," Apatow recalls. "I thought, 'This guy has a funnysounding
voice, and I should see him in person.' So I went to Vancouver. Seth came in and was hilarious, so we created a part for him on
the show."
- The concept for a comedy about an unlikely couple and the complications that arise from their one-night stand was inspired in
part by Rogen and a conversation he and Apatow had after the success of The 40 Year-Old Virgin.
"We were talking about writing something for him, and all of his ideas were giant science-fiction movies," Apatow recalls. "They were
very high concept. I said 'Seth, you don't need a big concept to be funny. In Virgin, you're funny just standing there talking. You
just need a situation that's funny because you're in it ... like you get a girl pregnant-and it's funny because it's you.'"
- The news that he would be starring in the filmmaker's next comedy came as a big surprise to the actor. "Judd was deciding what to
do after Virgin, and he was very elusive about it until, one day, when we had a meeting about
another movie at Universal, he just pitched it," recalls Rogen. "I was sitting there, and he said, 'We want to do this movie Knocked
Up, where Seth gets a girl pregnant after a one-night stand.' I couldn't believe it."
- Rogen felt Heigl made the perfect, formidable opponent. "One of the problems is that I'm just like a big, loud dude. So, when you
pair me up with a tiny little actress and have me scream at them, it becomes very unpleasant to watch. But with Katherine, it worked.
She could yell a lot louder than even I can."
- For the role of Alison's older, protective sister Debbie, the filmmakers turned to a woman they knew quite well. Mann, Apatow's wife.
She admits that working on these films is "a different type of moviemaking. It's very loose and creative. The actors have a lot to say
and do in the creative process."
- Mann's on-screen husband (and fellow Apatow player-from Virgin to Anchorman), Paul Rudd, agrees: "On other projects, you really
have to memorize lines and rehearse scenes. I've forgotten how to do that because I've become so accustomed to the way Judd shoots
things." Apatow concedes that his directing style is fluid and lively. From the table read on, each actor makes a continual
contribution, bringing his or her own take to any given situation. "I liken it to writing a movie on its feet," says the
director.
- Adding to the humor, Ben Stone's best friends, Jonah, Jason, Jay and Martin are played by Seth Rogen's real best friends.
Conveniently, the actors - Jonah Hill, Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel and Martin Starr - share first names with their characters.
Apatow insists that casting people he liked made his job easier: "I don't really have to do much, because if I just say, 'Sit
around and talk and give each other a hard time,' I know they'll do what they would really do. It's a great, lazy writer/director
move. And then I did something else that was really lazy - I didn't even bother to change any of the guys' names, except
Seth's."
- A longtime fan of folk music singer/poet Loudon Wainwright III, Apatow approached Wainwright to create the soundtrack for his
new comedy.
- Seth Rogen is in the upcoming The Pineapple Express with James Franco who was in
The Dead Girl with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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Um, no. Not even if Hades froze over. There's male and female nudity, "f" bombs and other profanities,
lots of sexual dialogue and situations, and quite a bit of marijuana abuse.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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The trailer gives you a good indication of what to expect other than in no way warning you just how
crude the material is.
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THE GIST
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Use The 40 Year-Old Virgin as your measuring stick. If you loved it
then you'll love this. If you were deeply offended by it then don't expect anything different from this.
And if you take your kids to see it then you deserve a beatdown.
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