With Knocked Up, writer/director Judd Apatow solidifies his status as the best thing to happen to comedy in years. I don't think we've witnessed a filmmaker ascend as quickly and as strongly in the comedy genre since the heyday of Mel Brooks in the late 60's and early 70's. After his double-header of Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared on TV, Apatow switched to the big screen and gave us The 40 Year Old Virgin. Those all profited from lowered expectations, as no one really knew who this man was or what tricks he had up his sleeve. But there's no catching us off guard this time, Mr. Apatow, and that's what makes Knocked Up so delightful: you expect it to reach those lofty heights achieved by his previous works, and largely it does.What's surprising about Apatow's oeuvre is how simple his premises can be. To go into detail on what Knocked Up is about might seem a a bit redundant: it's in the title. Yet how can he continually create winners out of such simple, one sentence premises? The answer is all in the characters. These aren't one note slapstick caricatures that you're supposed to laugh at, but very real people that you want to laugh with. The story of a lovable loser named Ben (Seth Rogen) getting his one night stand Alison (Katherine Heigl) pregnant is really more about showing us what these two people are made of than simple hijinks. They're also surrounded by Alison's sister Debbie and her husband Pete (Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd), as well as Ben's friends Jason, Jay, Martin, and Jonah (Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Martin Starr, and Jonah Hill). Every one of them is a delight to watch and add flavor and nuance to such a simple idea of a story. Much like he did in Virgin, Apatow makes the film as much about the relationships between all the secondary characters as about the plot.
Seth Rogen as Ben is a revelation. He's been paying his dues for years in small parts in films as varied as Anchorman and Donnie Darko, as well as staring in both of Apatow's TV shows. He's not the type of guy you think of when you think lead actor, but there was never a moment here where I doubted him or didn't buy him as the lead. Perhaps part of this has to do with the way he's portrayed as a secondary character who is thrust into the limelight; even he is slightly surprised to be the focus of the story. Early on you see Alison and Debbie getting into a nightclub, and off to the side is Ben, unassuming and barely noticeable. Yet this is his story, and he comes to embrace the curve life has thrown him with both charm and determination. If there's any remaining doubt that Rogen can pull off a staring role, look no farther than his scenes leading up to the birth where, when trying to look out for Alison and his unborn child, he tells everyone who is being a hindrance to screw off. This isn't just some goofy stoner anymore, but a man who wants very much to make sure his child will be brought into this world safely and correctly.
The rest of the cast is all wonderful. Heigl fits her role perfectly and you can kind of buy her eventual love for Ben. Paul Rudd is always reliable as the goofy sidekick, and his one liners are among the best in the film. But he also gets a chance to stretch, and he is able to be both repulsive and sympathetic at times. Leslie Mann is an actress I have never warmed up to, but being Apatow's wife, I've accepted that she will always get roles in his films. So color me surprised that she was quite great in her role. She could be shrill on occasion, but mostly I got her character and appreciated the way she balanced out Rudd. As for the guys playing Ben's friends, they always leave you wanting more of them. They pop in just long enough to give you a laugh and an insight into Ben's life before disappearing again. They aren't as well developed as the friends in Virgin were, but then they aren't meant to be as much of a focal point as those characters were.
I think the best argument for what's so great about Knocked Up is that, at easily over two hours, it is a film that should have worn out its welcome well before it's over. Yet these characters are so inviting and engaging that I didn't want to leave their world and would have stayed there for far longer if given the chance. It also didn't hurt that it may have the best laugh to minute ratio of any film so far this year (who knew Munich references could evoke so many laughs?) After such a lackluster May filled with bad sequel after sequel, it's nice to find something so refreshingly funny and original out there.
