MOVIE REVIEW: Knocked Up

A few years back, "The 40 Year Old Virgin" was released and it became one of my all time favorite comedies. This was the movie that helped launch Steve Carrell when he was known at the time only for his role on "The Office." A few years before that, two shows were short lived on Fox. "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared," both of which which created by Judd Apatow and starred Seth Rogan. There were two of the best shows at the time as well. Now Apatow is back with "Knocked Up," a film that far surpasses the above mentioned projects. "The 40 Year Old Virgin" is hard to top. It was an A-List comedy that had you laughing from start to finish. "Knocked Up" manages to get you laughing in between laughing. It is that damn good.
The film begins with Ben (Seth Rogan) and his buddies. They live together and run a website in which they tell the reader where to find their favorite movie stars naked on film. Yes, it is Mr. Skin, but they do not know that. Ben smokes pot, has no real source of income and boxes with his gloves on fire. Then we meet Allison (the smokin' Katherine Heigl) who just received a promotion to be an on air talent for E! television network. Allison lives in a guest house in the backyard of her sister Debbie (Apatow's wife Leslie Mann) and her husband Pete (played by Paul Rudd). So Debbie and Allison go out to a local club to celebrate. It is here that Allison and Ben meet. They talk and laugh and drink the whole night until they wind up back at Allison's house where they have sex. After an awkward morning the two part ways with no intention of ever seeing one another again. That is, until Allison finds herself pregnant 8 weeks later. So we spend the rest of the film watching as Allison and Ben try to make it work as a couple and both learn what it takes to prepare for a baby.

Much like "Virgin," "Knocked Up" really gets it right in the performances. Paul Rudd is the highlight here really just makes his comedy so effortless. When the man is given free range, he can be hilarious in every scene that he is in. If you do not know who Katherine Heigl is, you need to get off your ass and watch "Grey's Anatomy." Yes I watch the show. Yes it is because of her. Suck it. Here we get to see her acting chops, however. She is great on the show, but here we see that she has comedic timing and can hold her own with the likes of Rudd and Rogan. Speaking of whom Seth Rogan really steps up into the leading man role here perfectly. He is as carefree as he is charasmatic. Between the two leads you really end up caring what happens to them. You really want to see them get together, and when things always don't go according to planned, you feel sad for them. The bit parts are great as well. Harold Ramis is in here as Ben's dad. Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Martin Starr and Jason Segal are in there as Ben's friends, too. Each with their own set of quirks and ongoing jokes that never let up.
The premise for this movie has been done over and over again, so realistically this film never should have worked. Afterall, what else is there to say about this kind of situation? The beauty of the film comes from Judd Apatow's writing. Each and every joke works and nothing ever falls flat. If anything, it is a film you would really need to see twice as you will in fact miss some jokes because of laughing too hard.This is by far the funniest movie of the year, and I do not forsee any other film even coming close to this kind of humor. If any other film stands a chance, it's "Superbad," which is produced by Apatow, written by Seth Rogan and starring Rogan and Jonah Hill. This is going on my top films of the year list and I cannot wait to see what these guys do next.

Below is the "red band" trailer for "Superbad," so you can all see how f'n funny it is going to be.