Review: ‘Knocked Up’ balances crude, romantic humor

Directed by: Judd Apatow

Starring: Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann

Rated: R

Seth Rogen, who appeared on TV’s cult-favorite “Freaks and Geeks,” gets his own version of “The 40 Year Old Virgin” from director Judd Apatow, the man responsible for both of the aforementioned pieces of work.

“Knocked Up” isn’t a sequel to, or offshoot of, “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” but Apatow –who is two for two now on the big screen – uses the same formula he did with Steve Carell in “Virgin.” The director has a penchant for developing characters who are ostensibly grown men but still have a lot of “little boy” in their psyches. Apatow’s talent lies in the way he pulls this off with intelligence, charm and wit.

While there is a fair amount of coarse humor in both of his films, it’s always offset with a heaping helping of insightful character development and themes that are relevant and intelligent.

Rogen plays the aptly named Ben Stone, a 25-year-old slacker. He and his four roommates seem to have been stoned since their college days. Their house is a minefield of pizza boxes, bongs, video games and movies. They have a business plan: They’re going to set up a Web site that has every nude scene by every female star in Hollywood cross-referenced so users can find out when the “good parts” are in any given movie. The site says “Under Construction,” but the team does a lot of research.

Katherine Heigl (of “Grey’s Anatomy”) plays Alison Scott, a producer for the E! Network who has just been promoted to “on-air talent” status. She and her sister Debbie (Leslie Mann) decide to go out and celebrate. This involves going to a club, dancing and drinking.

Alison meets Ben and, even though they are worlds apart in many ways, alcohol can be “the great equalizer.” They end up at Alison’s place – she lives with Debbie and her husband, Pete (Paul Rudd).

Sex ensues and, because of a miscommunication, the sex is unprotected. The “morning after” scene is a prime example of what makes Apatow such a smart director. He strays from movie clichés and gives us something more akin to real life. Real life is funnier than most movies anyway, and Apatow seems to know this.

After a hilarious breakfast, Ben and Alison go their separate ways. They believe they will never see each other again but we, the audience, know better. There’s a lot of movie left.

A few weeks later, after a nasty bout of morning sickness, Alison buys every home pregnancy test kit on the market. All yield positive results.

Alison reluctantly calls Ben and sets up a date to break the news.

It’s here the body of the film kicks in. Ben and Alison try to come to terms with impending parenthood – and each other. The cynical – or maybe just realistic – viewer may point out that the likelihood of Alison stooping low enough to consider having Ben in her life at all is slim. But she’s a decent person and, while she’s not ready to get married, she realizes Ben is the child’s father and deserves his half of the joy as well as the responsibility.

“Responsibility” is, at this point in his life, a rather mysterious word to Ben.

Apatow expands the film into a lot of well-developed subplots, the best being the relationship between Pete and Debbie. He’s a young-at-heart, but nicely paid, record executive, while she seems more stern than she actually is. Their marriage is far from perfect. Alison and Ben learn, in more ways than one, a thing or two about commitment.

The subject of abortion is bound to come up in a situation like this, and Apatow deals with it firmly and in the briefest manner. Alison dismisses the advice she gets from her mother, and that’s the end of it.

“Knocked Up” is a modern “screwball” comedy that will satisfy both the people who like sweet and funny romance and those who like crude humor. As mentioned, there is a lot of the latter here, but Apatow’s hand as a director is deft. Rogen turns in a star-making performance. He’s eminently likeable and, like Bill Murray, all he needs to do is show up onscreen and the audience collectively smiles.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.[[In-content Ad]]