Truth is sometimes funnier than fiction

Rating: 9/10 (4 February 2008)

What really struck me was how a lot of what goes on in "Knocked Up" seems to come from real life. It's one of those movies I like to call "real life, only funnier".
Okay, first you have to be able to suspend your disbelief long enough to buy into Alison Scott, a young, ambitious and gorgeous entertainment interviewer, having a one night stand with and eventually falling for a slovenly, poorly dressed slacker.
Once you make this leap, however, the film takes you to a lot of very real and funny places. The emotionally charged scenes seem to be pulled right out of real life.
Don't get me wrong--this is not a sappy romantic comedy. Remember, this is the guy (Judd Apatow) who gave us The 40 Year Old Virgin, among many others. Don't worry, guys, there's lots of silliness and toilet humour, but there's stuff for your girlfriend, too.
Kudos to Leslie Mann, who plays a character that is often very unlikeable (from a man's perspective, anyway), but important to driving the conflict in the story. She's the grounding force in this ensemble cast.
Paul Rudd always seems to fit in well with any ensemble and brings a lot of his comedy chops with him. Excellent casting.
Of course, the scenes with Paul and Seth are just damn funny, as are the scenes with his room mates. Seth Rogen was a great choice to play the lead. I found myself routing for Ben to transform himself into a man that Alison would want to be with, and was there with him through the highs and lows.
There's a sweetness between Ben and Alison that really helps you get past the vast difference in their stations in life. You would think that it would be easy to find a pretty girl to play Alison, but it seems that not many pretty girls are great at comedy. Even though Katherine Heigl has to play the "straight man" in most scenes, she does get to flex her acting and comedic muscles as the hormonal pregnant lady. I was especially fond of the labour scene. If this were a scene from "Scary Movie", she would have turned into Regan from "The Exorcist".
Of course, the room mates are also awesome, all very funny actors, and comedy seems to come very easily and naturally in their scenes.
Though the premise may seem like a bit of a stretch, much stranger things happen in real life. I also like that two of the characters are Canadian ;-).