Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars Katherine Heigl, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd,
Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, Harold Ramis
Written by Judd Apatow
Certification UK 15 | US R
Runtime 129 minutes
Directed by Judd Apatow
First things first. Despite what many are saying, Knocked Up is not the funniest film ever made. It is funny — frequently painfully so — and, like Judd Apatow’s previous film The 40-Year-Old Virgin, it features a deep, deep vein of truth and humanity. That helps balance some of the excesses however the film’s biggest excess is its running time. Somewhere in here is a 90 minute bladder-destroying classic. Unfortunately, it’s currently hidden behind an extra 39 minutes of pretty unnecessary padding.
The story, as you’re no doubt aware, is of Alison (Katherine Heigl), a young, gorgeous TV presenter on the cusp of a glorious career, and Ben, a young, but surprisingly old-looking slacker on the cusp of... well, goofing off, smoking pot and, possibly / maybe, doing some work on his long-planned celebrity porn site. The two meet, get drunk, hook up, suffer a painful morning after... and then get thrown together properly when Alison discovers she’s pregnant. Will Ben stick by her and discover some degree of maturity? Or will he just run / waddle away?
The cinematic law of opposites — these two would never get together for real therefore they must end up together on screen — means that the ending is dully predictable although there’s lots of amusing distraction on the way. And when it’s good — the generally improvised banter of Ben and his cronies and, particularly, Saturday Night Live alumni Kristen Wiig’s hilariously bitchy TV executive — it’s very good. When it’s bad... well, even at worst it’s still faintly amusing and the moments of truth are impressively realistic: the relationship between Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd as Alison’s sister and brother-in-law veers from funny to a beautifully observed In The Bedroom like intensity. Apatow combines it all with aplomb: it’s just a shame then that he gets so indulgent in the running time.
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SECOND OPINION | Stuart O'Connor ***½ "The best film of the summer," said the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw. Variety called it "explosively funny". The Times said it is "as near to perfect as a comedy can get". It scored 92% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes. Yes, everyone's loved it and thinks Knocked Up is the funniest thing since Life of Brian. I'm sorry, I have to disagree slightly with the majority. Yes, it's an incredibly sweet, warm and funny film. But the funniest of the year? Maybe of the year so far — there have plenty of dud comedies released in 2007 (Norbit and Evan Almighty to name just two) — but Superbad hits the UK in a couple of weeks, and I have to admit I found that much, much funnier than Knocked Up.
That said, I did enjoy the antics of the gorgeous Katherine, chubby Seth and the rest of the gang. Judd Apatow has a knack for finding the genuine, honest laughs in just about any situation. And he's cleverly found a way to combine the gross-out style of humour popularised by the Farrelly brothers with the more conventional romantic comedy, adding a certain maturity to the proceedings along with the laughs. And he's particularly skilled at writing dialogue that rings true. On top of all that, Knocked Up has some wonderful performances, particularly from Rogen and his slacker/stoner buddies. But as Neil points out, it's a little too long. And for me, the ending is a little too trite and conventional. Minor things, I know, but they just make the film a little less perfect than everyone else seems to think it is.