Funny.

Rating: 7/10 (2 May 2016)

It doesn't sound too promising. Seth Rogen picks up Katherine Heigl in a dance hall, both of them drunk. A night of passion and she turns up preggers. Abortion being out of the question (this is a romantic comedy) the two of them must struggle through he condition for the following nine months. The pregnancy threatens her job at a TV studio and his way of life as a profound wastrel. It not only sound unpromising, it sounds familiar. Two mismatched people fall in love, give up their selfish ways, and have a cute baby.
Yet the edgy comedy is deftly handled by the director and the performers, even down to supporting roles. It doesn't get truly sickening until the last five minutes or so -- after the excruciating birth scene -- and during the credits, at which time we see home movies and still photos of all those cute cooing tykes that we'd so far been spared.
It's raunchy as hell with F bombs galore and some of the funniest scenes depend on that vulgarity but it's not adolescent. It's fully blown and mature.
As much impressive as anything else is the picture it presents of life in Northridge, California. Oh, how the mores have changed since I was their age. The talk among men in my youth was always industrial strength -- but WOMEN or "girls" didn't use it, nor did young men use it when women were present. And even without women around, the curses were colorful but decorative. The swearing in this film is equal to that I'd only found in the military, mere punctuation with no semantic baggage. And the women use equally foul language. There's dope all over the place. And everybody hops right into the sack with whoever they pick up at a bar! Where was this life style when I NEEDED it? Oh, I'm -- I'm choking up. (Sob.) Seth Rogen is nobody's idea of a handsome man. At least I don't think so. He's chubby, has a halo of curly locks, needs a shave, and has a voice that suggests gargling. But he's a good actor and brings exactly the right characteristics to the role.
I don't want to give away the jokes but I guess I can mention two, both involving small parts.
(1) A desperately worried Rogen consults his Dad, the late Harold Ramis, and asks his advice. The advice? Stop worrying. Marriage is a wonderful state and children are a living miracle. Later, when Rogen's life is going to hell in a hand basket, he calls Ramis and shouts that the advice was all wrong. Reply: "I've been divorced three times -- how could you have listened to somebody like me?" (2) The pregnant Heigl consults a Chinese obstetrician who quizzes her about bad habits the way an aggressive district attorney attacks a defendant. "And how many cigarettes have you smoked? Hmm? How MANY?" You'll probably get a lift out of it. It's a knowing sort of comedy built around bits of reality that everyone will find recognizable.