Decent but female characters fall short...

Rating: 6/10 (20 May 2008)

After watching Superbad, I watched this movie expecting something totally different. I ended up enjoying it. I can agree with other posts, Ben's supporting cast members were lacking throughout the movie. The really didn't offer much outside of their views on abortion. I would have liked to see Ben's friends offer more than just crude-predictable "jackass" worthy humor even if they were potheads. (Some of our greatest musicians have been potheads. Their work still counts!!)
I didn't really care for the women in this movie though. They were very annoying and bratty at best. I am a woman and ended up sympathizing with Debbie's husband. She was like an adult toddler in their terrible twos! I get the humor behind men surrendering to women in relationships. But I wish we could get past this and show more depth to relationships--even in comedies. Nothing puts brakes on comedy faster than a whiny woman going off on her mate over something stupid and justifying the tantrum being she's female. UGH! (Remember, Meet the Parents and the cat? Oh come on!). Or the way Heigl's character treats Ben in the doctor's office. Granted his response is no better. And flares up again at Debbie later---in a way that's disrespectful towards women. I understand the need to poke fun at this but this is just cheap, lazy humor. The women in the movie always want their cake and ice cream at their mate's expense. They can be bratty but they should rely on the excuse, it's because we are women and men just don't understand, etc.
The one element I loved about this movie was Harold Ramis' speech on babies. I felt this was tastefully done and expressed what the movie was trying to convey. My abortion views aside, it was heartwarming to hear a man express his joyous views on fatherhood. He looked at his son with optimism and gave him courage and support. To me, even though Ben's life was not going according to plan and most of society would deem him a loser, his father still had a great deal of faith in him. Ben downplays it, his father's words stick with him later in the movie.
People will always have sex. But I like where this movie goes with its message. Yes, on the surface, people can focus in on Ben's appearance and say this is boring. But underneath, the "crowning" scene, the F words, and drugged, porn-obsessed junkies, there is a subtle message that anyone can take responsibility and we shouldn't write off anyone based on what we see but look at their actions. Yes, this message is not original and it's overdone but it's not nearly as irritating as the women in this movie!