Not as funny as I could have possibly hoped for, but still a mostly enjoyable Judd Apatow comedy

Rating: 7/10 (22 November 2010)

The last film I saw which Judd Apatow was involved in was "Superbad", and my review of that hit 2007 comedy will tell you how puzzled I was by its massive appeal! However, I had seen several Apatow movies before that one and found several of them funny. He was a producer for all these films, and wrote and/or directed SOME of them. He wrote, directed, and co-produced "Knocked Up", another successful R-rated comedy released the same year as "Superbad". I was expecting this one to be a lot funnier than the last Apatow production I saw, and in my opinion, it definitely is that. Maybe most people who have seen the two films think they're both great comedies, and I don't think either of them is, but at least I still think this one is good.
Alison Scott has been working behind-the-scenes at E! Television Network, but she gets promoted to an on-air position. She is single, but her older sister, Debbie has a husband named Pete, and the couple has kids. To celebrate Alison's promotion, the two sisters go to a night club. Debbie has to leave early when she hears that her daughter has chicken pox, but when this happens, Alison decides to stay behind with Ben Stone, a guy she has just met. Alison and Ben both leave drunk that night and end up having sex. However, after this one-night stand, she begins to learn about this young man and how little they have in common! Ben is an irresponsible stoner who is working on a website with his friends which tells people the exact moments when famous actresses appear naked in movies! Eight weeks later, Alison finds herself throwing up at work, and it is soon discovered that she is pregnant after her one session with Ben!
This Judd Apatow effort certainly doesn't start out hilarious, but there are some funny scenes near the beginning, such as the first conversation we see between Debbie and Pete. It gets really funny starting with Alison waking Ben up the morning after their night of drunken sex, which is followed by a scene showing the two of them learning about each other while out for breakfast. These are both big laughs! I even laughed when I saw Alison throwing up on the air, as wrong as that scene may be! After a while, the film goes downhill a little. There were parts which I found somewhat funny, but not as many REALLY funny moments as before. I sometimes found myself kind of struggling to stay into it, but this certainly didn't last for the rest of the viewing, and I found lots of comic highlights at different points, as the movie shows Debbie and Pete's marriage in trouble, and Alison and Ben also having problems with their relationship. The dialogue is a major part of the humour. Whether I was laughing hard or not, I did find that the story can certainly be intriguing at times, especially towards the end, and there are some touching moments which can also add to the film's quality.
If you're at all familiar with Judd Apatow's work, it really shouldn't surprise you that this particular film of his is very raunchy and juvenile, and obviously many people don't find this kind of humour the least bit amusing. However, while I found that this type of humour did not work in "Superbad" for the most part, I would say it mostly does work in this film, just like it does in "The 40 Year Old Virgin", another comedy which Apatow was a major part of. While "Knocked Up" isn't as consistently funny as that 2005 comedy blockbuster, which I first saw a few years ago, it succeeded in making me laugh many times, and also gave me an overall engaging story with memorable characters. These elements were enough to leave me in a good mood, and I have to give the film credit for that. If you're an adult who is into sex jokes, this could be a comedy for you, even if it doesn't COMPLETELY live up to its reputation.