Although Knocked Up is hilariously funny, the entire movie I felt like something wasn’t quite right. I was laughing but the laughs didn’t feel like the jovial laugh that I got from There’s Something About Mary or Euro Trip. The thing is, the subject matter of Knocked Up is incredibly serious. This movie makes light of a situation that is not funny to be in. The writers accomplished this feat quite well, but deep down, while the audience is laughing, there’s a little twinge in your heart where the viewer realizes how awful it would be to land in Alison’s dilemma.
“Marriage is just an unfunny, never-ending version of Everybody Loves Raymond.” The writing for Knocked Up was truly fabulous. There were so many one-liners that should become classic quotes. It is the story of Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl of Grey’s Anatomy) who has a great job and a happy life. Until she meets stoner/pretend website designer Ben Stone (Seth Rogan of 40 Year Old Virgin) one night in a bar and, drunkenly, ends up sleeping with him – unprotected. She finds out how really mismatched they are the next morning; however, the result of this one-night-stand is growing inside of her.
When she finds out she is pregnant and decides to keep the baby, she calls Ben, who is determined to help her raise the child. From this point they try to build a relationship together. Meanwhile, Alison is living with her sister Debbie (Leslie Mann, 40 Year Old Virgin), and watching her marriage with husband Pete (Paul Rudd, Friends) deteriorate.
One thing that I must warn viewers about, there is some graphic footage that I don’t think anyone wants to see in a movie. I don’t want to give too much away but be prepared for “TMI” near the end of the movie, and not just once.
Every step of the way this movie is funny. Of course there was the obvious hilarity of Ben’s stoner friends, but I thought Paul Rudd’s subtler comedy was much more enticing. Most of the funniest lines were his. When it comes to comedy, Knocked Up trumped its predecessor 40 Year Old Virgin. I know there are probably some Virgin fans out there who are going to yell at me for saying that, but I definitely laughed way more during Knocked Up. However, despite the belly shaking laughs, I continued to feel mildly uncomfortable throughout the film. I realized post-viewing this discomfort was due the seriousness of the situation and the struggles between both couples. My laughs were light, loud and appropriate, but they were lacking in spirit. I could hear this in the laughs of others as well. Still, the writers avoided letting things get too dramatic and added the timely joke to lighten things up.
Knocked Up is a hard movie to grade. On the one hand it was spectacularly funny, but on the other, the subject matter tainted the comedy somewhat. It was a difficult endeavor for the writers to undertake, and yet, I feel that they were successful in making people laugh at a situation that is anything but funny. The question there becomes whether or not it is a tasteful result. I say it is. The actors and direction made the action very real, perhaps why there is that undercurrent of discomfort. The humor was fit in well with the every day trials of the characters. I did find it difficult to think that a girl like Katherine Heigl would ever go for a guy like Seth Rogan, even if she were drunk – but I suppose stranger things have happened. Nonetheless, the production team was successful in making this story lifelike, yet funny without being overly crass, despite the final sequence. However, I don’t recommend it for the older crowd. This is definitely a college age to mid-to-late 20’s type of movie. I give it a B average for all of its ups and downs.
1 comment:
I saw this film in a preview and maybe it's my age (I'm a baby boomer but I loved 40-Year Old Virgin) but I'm with the reviewer; this is a funny movie but after 20 minutes you realize that it is a serious situation that they are playing as bullshit.
I note that many male reviewer just LOVE this film. And if you love slacker antics, you will. But for women, it will ring so false. There are so few modern-day women who would keep a child out of a one-night stand. Even fewer would, after realizing the father is a pot-head slacker,would want to have a relationship with the father. These two people have NOTHING in common. It's every guy's dream to have a hot chick who "wants" him.
Katherine Heigl's character is horribly underwritten (we know a lot more about her sister's feelings than we do her's). She has a job she loves, gets a promotion and everyone at work doesn't notice (till she's about 8 months pregnant) that she is pregnant? Not in the real world. When she tells her mom and her mom suggests "she take care of it", she resists and says she's having it. Is a moral choice or just to bug her mom? We never know because we know so little about this character. It's very frustrating.
One good thing about the film is the relationship between the sister and her husband (well-acted). Marriage is work. It has its yin and yang, ups and downs. It's hard to get older, have responsibilities and start to have fewer wild times than in your youth (but frankly, it gets old and not so much fun as you get older, trust me). But the payoff is a relationship and a home life that sustains you the rest of your life. That's a pretty good deal.
Most women will likely laugh especially during the first 20 minutes. But, no matter your age, most women will shake their heads at the outcome and say, "Yeah, right."
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