An appropriately late review of Knocked Up

by: bamf 1 year, 5 months, 3 weeks, 6 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes ago

 

Bamf here rematerializing from the void..

Knocked Up is the best Horror film I have ever seen.  Apatow made a film that is hilarious and frightening.  The story has the charm of a personal tale like Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy.  I cannot give an assessment of camera work, lighting and edit choices.  I was completely wrapped into the characters’ story and anyone who no longer has their V card will walk out with birth control as their religion. 

I wouldn’t suggest taking a new date to this movie. It would be the equivalent of a woman not shaving her legs, or Shannyn Sossaman looking through the STD book in The Rules of Attraction. Men will swear off sex until the last residual of the third act surprise leaves their memory like the goatse(not a typo, do not google that).  I don’t see couples jumping right into bed after screening this one, not without a possibly uncomfortable conversation, but that’s probably a good thing.  While there is no question why this film earned its R rating—I feel it may very well be a necessary film for every teenager to see.  High School health teachers who are tasked to walk over the sex-ed for their class would be strengthened by screening this film (with consent of course) and could model a whole curriculum on the issues discussed.  Knocked Up gives parents and teachers a springboard for education that is relevant to the dry curriculum, filled with the usual giggles and sighs.  Instead of showing how to put a condom on to a banana—something I was taught, yet still have never done—it’s showing the consequences of why you should be sure to put the protection on.  I was kicked out of my sex Ed class in High School for laughing too much once.  They said I was being immature, I said I was laughing at the thought that I might actually have sex while still in High School.

I have no favorite scenes from the movie.  I love it all.  A lot of improv went into this production and they reaped gold from that move.  The story moves through the cast with clarity; no one gets lost.  Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen give performances that do not feel acted at all.  They really nailed their roles and I think it has to do with the fact they weren’t restricted to what was on the page for the day.  No one steals the show per say, but Ryan Secrest has his moment to change my opinion of him ever so slightly like Bob Saget in Half Baked.  Paul Rudd is an actor I admire. Just look at the man’s resume filled with versatility and always delivering.  Who would have thought the gay guy from Object of My Affection could produce such a different performance in Anchorman (another Apatow production)?  In Knocked Up he gives the everyman take on a husband in the early years of an un-steady marriage.  He shows the side of parenting that the children never get to see; parents growing up and coming to terms with their responsibility.  Rudd is one of my favorites—I just have to glow about him. (And I don’t care what IMDB says, he is the shaved space monkey in Fight Club)

This movie maintains humor while incorporating a dramatization of real life events that many out there can relate to.  The Break-up did this very well and was a story I saw parts of my life in far too well.  In fact, during that film I had to tilt my head befuddled. There were a couple of times where I was like, oh my god, I have had this fight. Maybe that’s just a sad commentary on my dating life but the two films share valuable qualities.  Both had casts with chemistry.  And they both held no punches back on telling stories that involved more truth than the average audience is exposed to.  I’m looking at you Wild Hogs.

With nothing to do with luck, Apatow should see this film continue to succeed. I won’t call it a sleeper, but whenever a comedy breaks 15 mill for its opening weekend you know you have done something special.  Are the big numbers enjoyed because of a backlash against inflated fantasy films like Pirates 3, where at the end all I learned is that if you scorn a woman, she will end up a “big” problem and leave you with crabs?  Possibly.  We want sharp comedies that go beyond just F bombs and obligatory tit shots.  I called Knocked Up a horror at the beginning of this, and for me it was.  I was shifting in my seat and mangling a mint tin in my hand the entire time, living in Ben Stone’s changed life.  Apatow has been creating The Wonder Years for this generation albeit in different stories spanning adolescence to adulthood.  In Knocked Up he created a human comedy.  In my opinion he spins the notion that audiences only really respond to tales of woe and tragedy—great finesse is taken with real characters that connect with us and enlighten the heart.

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