Running time: 129 minutes
Starring: Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Martin Star, Jason Segel
Rating 7 out of 10
Ever since Slacker, Richard Linklater's 1991 comedy about a group of young loafing misfits, American cinema has frequently exploited slacker culture for laughs, most notably in Kevin Smith's Clerks. Frequently funny, occasionally sweet but, at more than two hours, unnecessarily long, Knocked Up is the latest example. Written and directed by Judd Apatow, Knocked Up shares the same sensibility as Apatow's breakthrough success, The 40 Year Old Virgin. This is not sophisticated or subtle humour, but it is funny, which ultimately is the most important yardstick by which to judge a comedy. The majority of its laughs are generated by its bearded, cuddly bear of a star, Seth Rogen, who plays the slothful, tactless and uncomplicated Ben Stone. Ben's surname is apt considering his sole ambition in life, beyond sleeping, is to get high with his slacker mates. The 25 year-old Rogen, whose working relationship with Apatow extends back to the cultish, short-lived TV series Freaks And Geeks, concedes that the similarities between himself and his character of Stone are alarmingly abundant.
The frat house existence enjoyed by Stone and his four friends, Jay (Jay Baruchel, Jonah (Jonah Hill), Martin (Martin Star) and Jason (Jason Segel) centers around ridiculing Martin's new beard (eg: "Your face looks like Robin Williams' knuckles.") and creating a website that lists the on-screen nude scenes of actresses. When the boys are at a nightclub, Seth meets up with the beautiful and ambitious Alison (Katherine Heigl) who is there with her older married sister Debbie (Leslie Mann) to celebrate Alison's promotion to TV presenter. Despite being completely ill-matched, the jarring cogs of their personalities become lubricated with alcohol and they end up in bed together.
When Alison wakes up sober and Ben's crass and slovenly manner is more sharply in focus, she extricates herself as quickly as possible and has no intention of ever seeing Ben again. However, when she discovers herself pregnant, she reluctantly contacts him to discuss what to do. Even with a child involved, it's hard to imagine someone as driven and successful as Alison ever contemplating trying to forge a relationship with someone like Ben, but then I guess morality is a subjective and personal judgment.
The ensuing oil and water union of Alison and Ben, as they prepare for the baby's birth, provides the hook on to which the majority of Knocked Up's humour hangs. Both Rogen and Heigl absorb themselves perfectly in their roles and are admirably backed-up by the supporting cast, in particular Mann and Paul Rudd as tightly wound Debbie's long suffering husband Pete.
Alongside the bawdy and broad humour, Knocked Up exhibits a tender underbelly, one that adds a layer uncommon in such crass fare. It was a trait evident in The 40 Year Old Virgin and contributed greatly to that film's appeal, as it does here. The only complaint is the film's excessively long running time. As engaging and funny as Rogen and company are, long before the climactic birth finally arrives, I was hoping the baby would be been born several weeks premature.
Kevin Murphy
