perceptive romantic comedy

Rating: 8/10 (2 June 2007)

Like many romantic comedies these days, "Knocked Up" can seem a bit schizophrenic at times, straddling a fine line between salty language, sexual innuendo and crude sight gags on the one hand, and a foursquare endorsement of monogamy and marriage on the other. The standard formula for such films is that the characters are allowed to be as promiscuous as they want to be in the early stages of the drama provided they see the error of their ways and settle into responsible domestic conformity by the time the closing credits come rolling by.
"Knocked Up" goes a step further than most films in this genre by turning this theme - which is usually more implied than stated - into the very cornerstone of the movie itself. Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) is a socially backward, unemployed, loser stoner who has a drunken one-night-stand with Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl), a beautiful, up-and-coming reporter for the E Channel. When, in the stone-cold sober light of early morning, Alison sees who exactly it was she had sex with the night before, she essentially brushes Ben off, never expecting to really have to deal with him ever again. Fate, however, has other plans, as she soon discovers that she is pregnant with Ben's baby. Will Ben do the right thing by giving up his nerdish bachelor ways to marry Alison and be a true father to his child? Will Alison overcome her initial repulsion to discover the true Ben and start a family with him? Even though the answers to those questions are never much in doubt given the nature of the genre, the movie has a great deal of fun getting to those answers..
This is writer/director Judd Apatow's highly anticipated follow-up to the wildly popular "The 40 Year Old Virgin," a film that most people seemed to enjoy more than I did. For despite some fine performances and some very funny moments, "Virgin" often seemed weighed down by both the implausibility of its premise and its dogmatic adherence to the overused "Pygmalion" formula. Luckily, "Knocked Up" starts right off the bat with a more believable and compelling premise, which allows the audience to more clearly identify with the characters and their situations. What separates "Knocked Up" from so many other generic romantic comedies is that Apatow has a sharp ear for the way people in the real world actually speak. The lines are not only incisive, witty and sophisticated, but they are also what we would expect to hear coming out of the mouths of individuals caught in their particular situations. He makes us laugh at all the foolishness, foibles and insecurities we ourselves are prone to as we cope with the often maddening complexities of human relationships. Apatow also has a rare gift for making even the secondary characters compelling and interesting. Thus, even though Ben and Alison are the primary focus of the movie, Alison's uptight sister, Debbie, and her beaten-down husband, Pete, are fully fleshed-out figures as well. And even though Ben's loser roommates come across as fairly stereotypical zonked-out geeks and nerds, at least they are given some very funny one-liners to deliver as commentary on the main action.
However, all is not mere fun-and-games in this film. Some of the fight scenes, for instance, are surprisingly raw and cutting in their no-holds-barred brutality and frankness, and many in the audience may find themselves squirming uncomfortably in recognition of things that they themselves have said or done in the heat of anger. On a more upbeat note, Apatow also has a knack for inserting up-to-the-minute pop culture and movie references into the dialogue without making it feel desperate or forced. This gives the movie an enjoyably contemporary, "with-it" quality - although one wonders how far that may go towards limiting the shelf life of the movie in the long run, and how dated it may appear to audiences catching it on some cable station a decade or two from now.
Apatow is also to be commended for building his romantic comedy around a less-than-hunky male lead (although he doesn't have the nerve to go for a Plain Jane equivalent for the distaff side of the equation). It also helps that Rogen and Heigl are so utterly endearing in the roles of Ben and Alison, and that they receive such fine support from the likes of Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann and many others, including a handful of recognizable celebrities who make cameo appearances playing themselves.
It's true that the movie runs out of steam a bit along the way and overstays its welcome by about a half hour or so, but given its broad canvas, "Knocked Up" feels more expansive, comprehensive and fully baked than your average cookie-cutter romantic comedy. It's also a great deal more fun.