With this movie, writer-director Judd Apatow establishes himself as a force to elevate the slob comedy to something an adult audience can both laugh at and relate to. As with his previous effort, The 40-Year Old Virgin, Apatow surrounds what Newsweek calls a “beta male” hero with a group of friends enjoying an extended adolescence and forces him to grow up.
Apatow’s avatar of maturation here is Seth Rogen, the shaggy veteran of Apatow ventures dating back to the beloved (by me, at least) Fox series Freaks and Geeks. A chance hookup with an out-of-his league TV producer (Grey’s Anatomy’s Katherine Heigl) leads to a sudden grow-up call when she becomes…expectant.
Rogen capabably handles the part of the slacker-cum-family man, and Heigl was a revelation. Did I believe they were a couple falling in love? No, I didn’t, and nor is there is it clear why no one ever brings up either abortion or adoption. The movie also feels a little longish; its segmented approach seems like it might have suited for an episodic, short-run sitcom. But even if you you don’t buy these two as a couple, you can probably understand them. The movie is full of tremendously funny punch lines that seem like things that the characters would actually say.
The other couple in the movie, played by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann (as the sister of Heigl’s character), is also worth mentioning. Unlike the slacker posse, they function as something more than comic relief or sidekicks. They’ve got a long-running marriage that seems to still be a day-to-day negotiation, and I loved this view of a relationship in which neither partner is the sole villain and which will continue to resolve itself long after the movie ends. It’s the view of a grown-up, but one who still likes a good dirty joke.
IMDB link
reviewed 5/21/07
Thanks Adam, I saw this last night, and your review puts in words almost the exact thoughts i had while watching it. It's not as good as 40-y.o. virgin, but it goes by more quickly -- I hardly even noticed the length of the movie, because unlike, say, "Wedding Crashers", the movie is just as funny in its final third as it is in the rest of the movie. But it definitely does seem tailor-made to be a sitcom, and i wouldn't be surprised if rogen, rudd, and apatow get one in the next couple years.
ReplyDelete