![]() (Until now, his primary goal has been designing a Web site listing when and where actresses appear nude in homevid movies.)įor Alison, pregnancy initially seems like a career impediment - it’s hard to do red-carpet reports during one’s third trimester - but she’s ready to accept motherhood with a little help, if not a permanent commitment, from the baby’s father.Īfter a surprisingly smooth start, however, this unlikely bonding (which quickly evolves into a friendship with benefits) turns rocky. One thing leads to another, propelled by ample amounts of alcohol, and the mismatched strangers wind up connecting for what they assume will be a one-night stand.Ī few weeks later, however, Alison discovers she is pregnant.įor Ben, a scruffy layabout who shares a disheveled home with four similarly slackerish stoners, news of his impending fatherhood comes as a rude awakening. She’s feeling celebratory because of her promotion to on-camera correspondent for E! Entertainment Television he’s ready to party hearty because, well, that’s his natural state of being. Grown-ups, your summer smash has arrived.The basic setup - pregnant with comic potential, naturally - is simplicity itself: Ben Stone (Seth Rogen), a contentedly underemployed slacker, meets ambitious Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) at a trendy Los Angeles nitery. "Knocked Up" invites us to spend a lot of time in this crew's company - it clocks in at a longish two hours and 12 minutes - but the astute mix of soul-baring and stoner gags keeps the film from overstaying its welcome. James Franco, Steve Carell and Ryan Seacrest parody themselves in short, vivid cameos. Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill and Martin Starr play Ben's roomies and deliver some of the most quotable bull-session insult profanity since - well, since "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." The smallest parts are so richly conceived and well cast that you can't wait until the characters wander back into the story. Alison's pampered but vinegary sister Debbie (Leslie Mann, Apatow's wife) and her agitated recording executive husband Pete (Paul Rudd) are still wrestling with individualism and togetherness issues. Ben's reluctance to memorize baby books and tuck in his shirt for a real job, along with Alison's hormone-induced mood swings and the likelihood that her TV bosses won't take kindly to her increasingly visible pregnancy, contribute an undercurrent of comic tension.Īround the couple, Apatow builds a solid foundation of likable minor characters. When Heigl's Alison sees him playing with her little nieces, though, she melts, and so do we.Īlison is no "Legally Blonde" stereotype of young, successful beauty, but a tolerant, warmhearted optimist who believes that her sister's bad marriage won't be the pattern for her relationship. He rooms with four arrested-adolescent stoners, and his idea of a career plan is building an Internet database of tasty movie nude scenes. He's not such a good bet for a life partner on paper. Rogen, a scalawag supporting actor in his first starring role, makes Ben the kind of easygoing, sardonic dude you'd like to pal around with. Apatow, who honed his craft on standout TV shows such as "Freaks and Geeks," "The Larry Sanders Show" and "Undeclared," understands that appealing characters are the lifeblood of the genre, and delivers them. ![]() Like "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," Judd Apatow's debut film as a writer/director, "Knocked Up" is a winning ensemble comedy with a rudimentary plot. The film is a ringing defense of traditional values, delivered with clever, raunchy humor. ![]() ("You're prettier than I am," is his disarming idea of sweet talk.) Since the camera-ready blonde is so far out of his league - Ben resembles a scruffy, pink-painted Shrek - their hookup looks as if it will be a one-night stand.īut when a birth-control blunder turns the pair into expectant parents, they set out to fashion an alliance, move on to "friendship with benefits," and press ahead into love, commitment and sacrifice. ![]() Yet after a night of dancing and drinks to celebrate her promotion to on-air talent, the tipsy Alison finds herself stripping down with Ben. She's a stunning, ambitious interviewer for the E! channel. There are no contrived hurdles keeping them apart until the fadeout they're just unsuitable for each other. ![]() There's no magic or fate in the way the Ben (Seth Rogen) and Alison (Katherine Heigl) meet they just bump elbows at a club. The smart, sharp story is neither a male fantasy (though it surges with high-testosterone, R-rated rowdiness) nor a female date-movie daydream (though it overflows with heart). "Knocked Up" throws away the rule book on romantic comedy to give us a giddy relationship story that is as fresh and messy as real life. ![]()
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