Knocked Up
Following the success of The 40 Year Old Virgin, a touching comedy which made funny sense of that eponymous condition and its protagonist’s recovery from it, America’s King of Comedy Judd Apatow brings us Knocked Up, a similarly touching comedy about a more familiar situation - the inconvenient consequences of a one-night stand. Though the cast is mainly made up of Apatow’s family and friends, he is never tempted to laziness or in jokes. Rather a sharp script and stellar cast offer sweet and mature observations on the trails and joys of childbirth and awakening romance.
Alison (Heigl), a pretty and ambitious career woman has just landed a job as an on-air reporter for the E! Entertainment network. She is thrilled, and celebrates her success with a night on the tiles alongside her older housewife sister Debbie (Leslie Mann). Several drinks too many leads to a one night stand with 23-year-old Canadian stoner Ben Stone (Rogen). Under the influence in the dark of the nightclub, Alison is smitten with her new friend. But in the sober light of day, Ben turns out to be no more than a drugged-up slacker with no job, no money and the social habits of a teenager. Several weeks later, Alison tells an understandably horrified Ben that she’s pregnant and the two decide to make a go of their relationship. Set against their burgeoning friendship are Debbie and her husband Pete (Paul Rudd). On the outside the couple appear to have the dream marriage, but you don’t have to scratch far below the surface to see that their relationship is fraught with tension. Aware that her youth is fading, and suspicious of her husband’s nightly trips, Debbie is paranoid that Paul is having an affair. As it turns out he’s doing nothing of the sort, but has secretly joined a fantasy baseball league in search of some quiet male bonding away from his shrill wife and restless children. In a clever twist, it is the example of her sister’s marriage that threatens to push Alison and Ben apart.
Knocked up could have turned into a Beauty and the Beast story. After all, Heigl is slim, blonde and attractive; Rogen is podgy, immature and unhygienic. But although the character types of both lead roles are established from the outset, they are by no means cardboard cut out. For all her gregariousness, Alison is presented as vulnerable, constantly seeking the advice of others. Ben, meanwhile, is an illegal immigrant, living off the dwindling remains of an old court settlement. He and his pot housemates spend their time creating a website which directs its visitors to nude scenes in movies, not realising that this is an already overcrowded market, and dreaming of girls they could never hope to attain in real life. But they are all essentially decent people who faithfully support the couple right up to the birth, and as Ben comes to terms with tough decisions he never imagined making, he grows into a caring and mature father.
Both leads give excellent performances, convincingly portraying the awkward struggle to pull together, despite their gaping differences. Rogen in particular is hilarious, and makes a surprisingly credible romantic lead, as evinced by awkwardness around Alison, his desire to amuse her and to live up to her almost baffling faith in him. Alison’s hormonally induced moodiness, as well as Ben’s slouching progress toward grown-up status, are craftily presented.
Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd present a spot-on portrait of a stale marriage, while the interplay between Rogen’s housemates will have you in stitches. Even the minor characters - a TV host, a wardrobe mistress, a slyly envious production executive - are scripted with sharp wit and a great deal of care.
Apatow packs in plenty of fruity language and bawdy jokes, but most of the laughs spring from his astute script. Particularly funny is the scene in which Alison insists on a natural birth, only to scream for painkillers as the contractions start.
