the world is waiting for Apatow and co. to fail, but they will have to wait a little longer.

Rating: 8/10 (29 August 2007)

Knocked Up, the new movie from 40 Year Old Virgin co writer Judd Apatow and first time leading male Seth Rogen has received many plaudits in recent months, and therefore, many will be cynical upon entering. But they needn't be, because Knocked Up is a hilarious, emotive and sharply written romantic comedy that manages to avoid all the overwrought clichÃ©s of the genre by introducing the spanner in the works of an unexpected pregnancy to the newly acquainted couples lives. Firstly, Knocked Up is hysterical. Apatow's willingness to let his actors improvise gives the dialogue a sense of realism, the punch lines are numerous, unrelenting, and the sub plots of Ben's house mates and Pete and Debbie's marriage ensure the laughs are ever present. However, what justifies the hyperbole surrounding this seemingly average comedy is the storyline. During Knocked Up, the viewer is never left with the feeling that, (unlike Dodgeball, Wedding Crashers or Talladega Knights) the story is superfluous to the jokes, simply a platform for a group of predetermined one liners. Put simply, if you removed the jokes from Knocked Up, there would still be a worthwhile movie, one with themes of accepting the ones we love for who they are, maturing to provide a role model for our children, loss of youth, how random and insignificant events can change our life "plans", and the ugliness women feel during pregnancy. This is not to say Knocked Up is a perfect film, occasionally characters or sub plots are introduced too quickly, so that jokes don't have the full impact, or characters actions seem irrational (for example Pete's sneaking out on Debbie, we knew they were arguing but not really why, a simple scene showing them arguing would have been helpful). But this is understandable, seeing as though Knocked Up is a long film for a comedy, which is not a criticism, there is never a moment in the film that the viewer is bored, but at 124 minutes, it is easy to see how Apatow would have been stretched to find time to fit in these scenes. This, though, is simply nit picking in a film that successfully manages to bridge the gap between gross out teen flick and mature, bitter sweet romantic comedy. A film, which contains more laughs, a better storyline, and a sweeter relationship between its lead couple than the more anticipated comedy of the summer, the Simpsons Movie.