Ben (Seth Rogen) has been living for years off a $14,000 settlement check he received after a postal truck ran over his foot. He shares a house with some friends. Together they work on a website devoted to cataloging all the nude shots of celebrities (they think this is something novel.). They figure one day it will pay off. Alison (Katherine Heigl), on the other hand, is a hard-working assistant on an entertainment show. She lives in the guest house of her well to do sister and brother-in-law, and has her career arc all planned out. When she finally gets a promotion to become an on-air personality, she goes out to celebrate. That's when fate pulls a little joke and puts her together with Ben. The two have some drinks, get plastered, end up in bed and have a condom malfunction. In the morning, when Alison sobers up, she quickly dispenses with Ben and sends him on his way. Ben, who seems to consider himself lucky to have gotten as far as he did, doesn't seem to harbor any bad feelings about the chance encounter.
Fast forward a few weeks. Alison calls and then informs Ben that she's pregnant. Despite her mother's urgings to have an abortion, Alison decides to keep the baby and Ben offers to help out. At first, the arrangement points out all their differences but as time passes they actually start to care about each other.
Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen in Knocked Up (Universal)
As with The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up allows its characters time to develop. Although the promos promise a raunchy gross out comedy, Apatow delivers a lot more. And that shouldn't be a surprise considering that his past credits include writing for such smart shows as The Larry Sanders Show and Freaks and Geeks.
What's refreshing about Knocked Up is the way Apatow allows the relationship between this odd couple to play out. In most romantic comedies, a situation like this would result in the shrill female character demanding the slobby, immature male to grow up or get out. There would probably be a lot of screaming but eventually the guy would succumb to responsibility, dump his friends and settle down. Knocked Up has its fair share of fights and the characters do change but they change without giving up their idividual identities. Ben realizes he has to become more responsible and get a job but he still hangs out with his slacker friends (who actually accompany him to the hospital when Alison delivers). He still smokes pot and he's still a bit of a goof. As for Alison, she loosens up and even proves willing to catalog nude shots with Ben. Yet she doesn't give up her ambitions of a career. They change in credible ways and they seem willing to put up with each other's flaws.
Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd in Knocked Up (Universal)
The supporting characters are well drawn too. Alison's sister and brother in law, played by Leslie Mann (Apatows real wife) and Paul Rudd, who were both in The 40 Year Old Virgin, make another contrasting couple. Their relationship is played mostly for laughs and yet the two ultimately reveal unsuspecting layers. And there's a wonderful payoff to her suspicions of his infidelity. That payoff begins with hilarity and actually ends up with some genuine emotion.
One of the best scenes in the film belongs to Harold Rami's as Ben's dad. When Ben goes to his father with concerns about his own impending fatherhood, the two share a lovely heart to heart. Ben struggles with ideas like what to do when his kid asks him about drugs. To lecture him about just saying no would be hypocritical, he says. But Ben's dad confesses that when Ben put that question to him years ago he was probably high and simply recommended that if it grows in the ground it's probably okay to take. The answers are not very satisfying to the father-to-be but Ben's dad ends by saying that hey I did the best I could and I loved you and it'll all work out. It's a wonderful moment true and sweet.
Apatow reveals himself as a better writer than filmmaker. His dialogue is sharp and his characters are well drawn. His filming style may lack innovation but he errs on the side of just giving his characters some space and not interfering. He also has a savvy cast that never oversells (or overkills) the humor. Rogen is a truly likable slouch who doesn't aspire to much in life except to be happy. Heigl, who looks like a cross between Ashley Judd and Kate Bosworth, is similarly appealing and avoids the shrillness that often comes with romantic characters such as Alison. Both reveals a nice sense of comic timing.
Apatow serves up observational comedy--nailing the quirks and flaws of the characters. He also creates some unexpectedly funny situations, most notably a sex scene between a very pregnant Alison and a very tentative Ben who's worried about the first impression he'll make on his unborn child. The ability to mix low humor and smart comedy is what makes Knocked Up so enjoyable. And ultimately it also has heart. This is a film where all the characters, no matter what their flaws or shortcomings, ultimately reveal that they care for one and other.
Knocked Up (rated R for language, drug use and sexual content) is a refreshing summer comedy.
Companion viewing: The 40 Year Old Virgin, Made for Each Other, Garden State, The Larry Sanders Show
Listen to the Film Club of the Air discussion about Knocked Up.
